And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
by solelessboots
Summary: Emily is serious, no-nonsense and work-oriented. She has forgotten how to knock down the walls that she'd built around her heart so long ago. Naomi is sweet, bubbly and spontaneous. She welcomes everything the world throws at her. When two different worlds collide in a most unlikely encounter, fate shows the duo that some things are meant to be; you just have got to wait for it.
1. Chapter 1

"You know I love you, Emily," whispered the girl in between tears, "just… not in this way. It… It isn't right. I'm sorry."

Emily Fitch stood there in the rain, her face emotionless and seemingly unaffected by the streams of rainwater rolling down her cheeks. She stared blankly back at the other girl, who was crying hard now. "I'm sorry," the girl choked on the tears. She gave Emily one last look, a look of guilt and regret, before holding the boy by the hand and turning to walk away.

The girl walked further and further away, and she did not turn back. Finally, when she became a speck in the distance, Emily bit her lip as a tear rolled down her cheek. All around her, the trees and buildings started to spin and the street lights were whirling into a blur. Her senses must have begun to dull and shut down completely, because all that she could feel at that moment was a pain in the left side of her chest, a pain that comes from within and it felt excruciating; her hand grabbed into a fist instinctively at her chest to stop the pain, but it didn't make it go away.

It hurt so much she thought she was going to die from the pain, but she didn't. Moments later, she heard thumping sounds from behind her, the sound of horses' hooves hitting against the ground. The next thing she knew, she was thrown off her feet and landed hard on the ground.

"Ems!"

Emily grimaced and rubbed the bump on her head, as she opened her eyes to see what had knocked her off her balance. That room she was in was lined with sleek, poshed furniture. She was lying on the floor next to a bed. Her head hurt from the impact of collision with the corner of the side table.

_It was a dream._

"Ems! At the count of three, we're gonna break this door down!"

The shouting broke into Emily's thoughts and she realised for the first time that someone was at the door. Standing up hastily, she tried to calm herself by taking several deep breaths and attempted in vain to clear her mind of the images still fresh from the dream. She thought she felt something wet on her cheekbone, and her hand went instinctively up to her face to wipe it off, but there was nothing there. _What, what exactly would kill that disgusting icy monster in me? _She sighed sadly as she walked to open the door of the hotel room.

"EM- ," the guy standing right in front of the door looked like he was about to continue shouting when he stopped short, surprised the door was suddenly opened.

"What the fuck do you want, Cook?" said the red-haired girl with her arms folded, with a look of annoyance.

"Gosh, Ems," the guy named Cook exclaimed with an evident surprise in his voice, as he looked Emily up and down in a manner of disbelief, "were you really sleeping at five in the afternoon? And in your _work clothes_?"

"It's the damned jet lag, okay?" replied Emily matter-of-factly.

"Aww, come on, jet lagging's for losers. Me and the boys are gonna hang out at a local club. Fredster says there's gonna be some strip show kinda thing with boys dressing up as hot ladies. Said they're so hot we can't even tell that they've got cocks like us. Hell yeah, it's gonna be fun to watch. And you're coming with us."

"I'm not in the mood to," replied Emily curtly.

"People maketh the mood, not the other way round, Ems. With a beer in one hand and a girl in another, you'll be in a good mood in no time. Cookie's gonna show you how to have a great time and you _are _coming with us," Cook replied with his charming grin. He didn't look as if he was going to take "no" for an answer.

Emily stood at the door, and seemed to be a little swayed. A night out with Cook and the boys would certainly take her mind off those unhappy thoughts.

"Fine," Emily said reluctantly finally.

"Awesome! Good choice, Emilio," said Cook with a wink. "I'll see you at the lobby in five minutes. And do get changed. You look horrible with these white long sleeves and awful man-pants," grinned Cook cheekily.

"O, shut up," replied the red-head as she rolled her eyes and shut the door in his face.

The club was surprisingly filled with more white people than one would expect in a nightclub in Bangkok. She glanced around the bar and spotted several white men groping the asses of the scantily-clad Asian girls sitting on their laps, their looks filled with lust. Some of these men, as she noticed, had rings on their fourth fingers. _Married expats looking for a fling in a foreign land_. Emily turned away disgustedly at the sight of these salivating wolves (as she called them in her mind) and her eyes landed on Cook and Freddie, who had abandoned her to chat up two pretty blonde girls at the bar. JJ was standing awkwardly right beside the two boys and he looked like he was feeling left out from the conversation.

_Damn you, Cook. All those talk about hanging together tonight. Two pretty blondes come along and immediately all friendships sink to the bottom of the ocean faster than the Titanic. _

"Hey, gorgeous," a female, seductive voice came out of nowhere and disrupted Emily's thoughts. Emily jumped in surprise at the intrusion and turned her head back to find a pretty brunette leaning towards her face at an uncomfortable proximity. "You looked so mesmerizing with that serious look on your face I thought I'd better come over and find out what's wrong," The brunette bit her lips as her eyes strayed to Emily's lips and back to her hazel eyes, "…and if I could make you feel better… In any way."

Emily swallowed hard and blinked at the brunette. She wasn't used to advances from members of the _opposite sex, (_well in this case - _same sex)_, nor the other way round. God knows (actually, mostly everyone knows) the last time she made out was in college with her girlfriend who lasted for one month. _What'shernameagain? _Emily furrowed her brows in frustration as she tried to recall the name of her first and last girlfriend she snogged after five shots of vodka at the college party.

"I'm thinking…" the brunette said in a low, seductive whisper, "that maybe a kiss would help." As she leaned in suggestively, Emily shivered violently as her mind quickly ran through a list of possible reactions to partake in response to this code-red situation, like it always did when she had to handle emergency crises.

"RESULT: NONE" came the response in her mind.

"What do you mean, _NONE_?" cursed Emily angrily in her head.

Her thoughts were cut off by the touch of something wet on her lips which froze her completely. The brunette had leaned in and planted a kiss, and was gently nibbling on Emily's lower lip.

Emily's eyes widened in shock.

"RESIST FOREIGN OBJECT ON LIP," suggested her brain.

Emily jerked awake from her daze and pushed the girl away forcefully.

"What… what the fuck is going on?" demanded Emily as she swiped her lips with the sleeve of her shirt, disoriented and confused.

"Jesus, lady, there's no need to get all worked up alright?" exclaimed the brunette as she pulled away from Emily and straightened herself up, feeling offended that Emily looked disgusted by their kiss.

"Your friend over there Cook told me you were feeling lonely and needed a girl; he paid me £50 to come over and make you feel good. If you are not interested in snogging just say so? We could just talk, if you like,"

"What the… Fuck you, Cook!" Emily cursed angrily as she made sense of what the brunette had just said. She felt an intense anger surging through her insides as she glared in Cook's direction. Cook, who was oblivious to the swearing, caught her eye from the bar and thought she was thanking him, winked at her as if to say, "you are welcome."

Emily grabbed her stuffs and stormed out of the bar. As she walked down the streets past the rows of bars and nightclubs hugging her bag close to her chest she had a feeling she was being stared at by curious onlookers. She was wrong; coming to the nightclub didn't help make her feel better at all. Being surrounded by people all night at the club just made her feel lonelier than ever. And now, Cook _paid_ a girl to seduce her so that she wouldn't be lonely? Was desperation really written all over her face?

Emily knew she was queer probably since she was seven or eight, but now she thought she was perhaps the queerest of queers. When she was younger, she was never interested in the things that girls were interested in at every age, be it fairy tales, fashion or boys. When she first fell head over heels in love with Leia, her straight best friend in high school, she went through a series of emotional roller coasters. It let her taste for the first time the sweetness of loving someone so much you would do anything to make them happy, anything, even if it meant murder or arson. But thereafter she was also downed with a huge dosage of the inevitable bitterness that accompanied the torment of unrequited love. She could still remember the day when her best friend called her to tell her excitedly that she got together with the guy she had a crush on for so long. From that day on a part of Emily broke inside and she knew she would be incomplete forever.

It was also then when she finally conceded to herself; she was gay. She liked girls.

Yet, strangely, after Leia, Emily never really fell in love with another girl again. Sure, she had a few flings and a series of one-night-stands, mostly after a night of heavy booze, but none of the girls she slept with she was in love with like she was in love with Leia. Sometimes, after the night of passion, Emily would feel an overwhelming sense of guilt from betraying her own feelings yet again. She knew that the night before was only a manifest of lust and sexual frustration waiting to be released, nothing more. She knew that because when she looked into the eyes of the girls she had slept with the night before, she felt no feelings of love, just pity and guilt.

Over time, Emily steered clear of one-night-stands and casual flings altogether, to avoid hurting others, and to avoid hurting herself and sought to bury herself in work. It came to a point where she was so used to not having a relationship in her life and not having her entire life revolving around another girl, like some couples do. She gave up on finding love again, not in a vengeful, angsty and self-pitying sort of way, but rather, in a fading, forgetful sort of way. Little by little, she had closed her heart to the world. And now that it's been closed for such a long time she was not sure if it was possible to open it again, or if she ever wanted to open it at all.

The other day, she realised that she could no longer cry. Like her tear ducts just decided to malfunction one day and stop producing tears in them like they were supposed to. It was a frightening revelation to her, and she was in jitters when she had told Katie, her identical-but-not-so-identical twin, about it. Emotionally strong, confident and armed with a tongue that could cut through diamonds, Katie's everything that Emily was not.

"Fuck, what?" Katie turned away from her toe nails that she was painting a dark shade of red and shot Emily an incredulous and somewhat annoyed look.

"I don't know why, okay? I just can't anymore. I CAN'T CRY ANY MORE! I'M A FUCKING HEARTLESS FREAK." yelled Emily as she let herself onto her sister's bed and started screaming into the pillow and thumping the bed violently with her fists.

"I'm sure you can, bitch. You just need to wait for something worthwhile to come along to cry about," replied Katie, ignoring her sister's outburst while continuing to paint the last toe nail.

Emily didn't know what the hell what Katie was talking about, but one thing she did know: that every day she discovered more and more things about herself that seemed to justify her point that she was a heartless freak.

Like the other day, there was some show on Nat Geo Channel they were watching at some work party; about Somalia's child soldiers who were forced to join the rebel army at gunpoint and carry out heinous killings, some at the tender age of 10. Almost all the females in the room teared when they watched the interviews of the children, who described to the interviewers what they would want to be doing if they had a choice to lead a free life somewhere else. Emily thought that the interviews were all rather touching and well-shot alright, but the scene of everyone whipping out their handkerchiefs to blow their noses into was just baffling.

Then, there was the funeral of her high school classmate, Kenneth the other day, and all the old classmates who had turned up were weeping for him at the service. _Really?_ Emily thought as she eyed her classmates in surprise. _Were you all even that close to him?_

It was after a couple more incidents (one of which involving a documentary of sharks being finned before being thrown back into the seas or something along those lines) when it hit her that something might be really wrong with her.

It was as if she can't feel anymore. Like all her years trying to numb her feelings for Leia with work really succeeded and now she's fucking permanently numbed.

Even with that sexy brunette (give her some credit, she had some really gorgeous tits) hovering over her like that at the club, Emily felt nothing. Not lust, not desire, no, just fear. Fucking fear. She's afraid of anyone who dared come too close.

Her thoughts disintegrated and she was brought back to face with reality, standing in the middle of the walkway beside a massage parlour as the streams of passers-by walked past with curious stares.

If Emily had thought that staying in a nightclub full of white people with her friends had made her feel lonely, standing alone on the streets of Bangkok on a cold, windy night certainly didn't make her feel better. She glanced at her watch. 10:03pm. She was not sure if she still knew how to get back to the hotel, but she knew for sure that she didn't want to return to an empty hotel room yet.

Emily's mind floated back to _her _words, "You know I love you, Emily. Just not in this way. It isn't right. I'm sorry", and she felt this tight feeling in her chest surfacing once again.

Just then, she heard shouting from around the corner and just as she turned back to see what was going on, a white boy dressed rather oddly - wearing a vested suit and a grey beret (the kind where newspaper boys from the 1940s would wear while shouting, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!") which hid most part of his face in the shadows nearly ran into her as he abruptly appeared from around the corner. The boy couldn't have been more than 18 years old.

Emily peeked around the corner as the boy apologized hastily and continued running. About a few hundred metres away from where Emily was were three men apparently chasing after the boy, and they were shouting words that Emily can't really make out.

Emily turned and saw that the boy had stopped in his tracks a few metres from her. Then, as if suddenly realising something, he turned back and ran up to Emily, whispering, "Please help me."

Before Emily could even react with a _With what?_, the boy removed the beret he was wearing hurriedly and Emily blinked in utter amazement as long wavy blonde tresses flowed from the insides of the beret that reached down to beyond his shoulders. Then, with the fastest speed Emily had seen anyone undressing, the "boy" hastily stripped off his vested suit to reveal a tank top within. Emily gasped; the "boy" had breasts that were fuller than hers. Emily's mouth hung open as it dawned on her the boy was no boy at all. "He" was a woman disguised as a man.

Emily had not even time to ask questions when the most ridiculous thing that had happened yet happened next. The blonde leaned forward and pushed Emily against the wall, locking her lips in a passionate kiss as her hands grabbed Emily's neck gently from behind.

In that split second, Emily's mind went into freeze mode. A violent wave of electricity snaked through her body, causing her to shudder uncontrollably. The streetlights and the people on the walkway fell away into the background as she felt the girl's lips on hers; the lips were soft and tasted sweet like cherries. Emily's heart was beating violently against her rib cage, threatening to burst into flames.

_Oh, god. Oh, dear, dear god._

Emily must have stopped breathing, because her lungs felt like they were going to burst and she might just die on the spot. Just as her mind was searching dutifully for the number to call for the ambulance, Emily felt the lips being pulled away from hers. She jolted back to reality to realise the blonde had pulled away from her, and was now anxiously looking into the distance at the three men who had run past them and headed in another direction.

"Whew", the blonde girl heaved a sigh of relief. Emily couldn't help noticing how gorgeous this girl standing before her was. The platinum blonde hair that framed her face, expressive deep blue eyes that seemed to have a life of their own (Emily had a _really_ soft spot for beautiful eyes), and lips that were soft and full and oh-so-tantalising.

"I'm sorry for using you," said the blonde girl as she turned back and smiled awkwardly at Emily, snapping her out of her thoughts. The girl bit her lips and looked really apologetic. "It's just that I couldn't run anymore and you happened to be nearby so I thought you could help me get away from them."

"Oh", Emily mumbled in a daze as her mouth hung open, still a little disoriented by the sight that stood before her.

"It's… it's fine," said Emily absent-mindedly as she stared at those beautiful eyes she could not tear her eyes off. _Oh dear god, how could you make something so heartwrenchingly beautiful?_

"I figured that they would just think it's a couple making out and not notice me," added the blonde.

_Really? Lesbian couple making out on the streets? Sure, that's not really the most noticeable thing around. _Emily thought and chuckled quietly to herself. But for all it's worth, Emily had to admit, this blonde standing in front of her was certainly no dumb blonde. Quick thinking indeed.

"The name's Naomi Campbell" the girl said, eager to break the awkward silence that had crept up on them.

"I know, I think I heard them. Emily Fitch," Emily recovered her senses and replied with a smile.

"Hi Emily," chirped Naomi happily, "let me guess. Your accent – South Western?"

"Bristol, to be precise," replied Emily.

"Oh my," Naomi's eyes lit up at the name, "I'm from Bristol as well!"

"Really?" chuckled Emily at Naomi's outburst of enthusiasm, "I haven't seen you around much," joked Emily with a wink.

Naomi laughed, and added, "I can't say so for myself though. You look really vaguely familiar for some reason," said Naomi.

"That's one cheesy pickup line," teased Emily.

Naomi felt her face turn red. "No, I mean it. I really think I've known you somewhere!"

"Why were the men chasing you?" Emily said, trying to change the topic to help Naomi out. "You're not a wanted criminal, are you?" said Emily as she eyed Naomi suspiciously and pretended to widen her eyes in fear.

Naomi let out a hearty laugh that made Emily's heart skip a little and she shook her head smiling.

"They were paparazzi reporters," explained Naomi, and she sighed a little as she said that.

"Oh," Emily said, "You're famous?"

"Apparently not, since you don't even know me," Naomi said, giggling.

Emily chuckled at that. "Pardon me, I don't get the time to watch TV usually."

"Really? What do you do then?" Naomi asked, curious.

"Oh, fuck," said Emily.

"I beg your pardon?" Naomi furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Fuck, they are coming back!" cried Emily, pointing behind Naomi.

Naomi turned and, sure enough, the three men from before were running back in their direction, shouting, "That's Naomi Campbell!"

"Shit!" Naomi cried, and without warning, grabbed Emily by the hands and ran off in the direction in which she came from earlier.

Emily felt the cold night wind in her hair as she ran behind this stranger whom she has just met less than ten minutes ago, their hands locked together as they weaved through the bewildered locals and the cars on the roads. Car honks sounded all around them as they caused a mini traffic confusion on the streets of the Ratchadaphisek district. Feeling the other girl's hand in hers caused a warm wave to surge through her entire body. She suddenly thought about their kiss a while ago, and she couldn't help smiling as she brought a finger to the corner of her lips. Then, as if suddenly realising what she was doing, shook her head to get rid of the thought and mentally slapping herself. _God damn it, Emily Fitch. You just met that woman five minutes ago!_

Despite chiding herself inside, Emily couldn't tear her eyes off the blonde that was holding her hand right now and still had a smirk on her face while this whole cat-and-mouse chase was taking place. It even seemed like Naomi was sort of enjoying it, her face all flushed and excited from the adrenalin rush of running. They must have been running for really long now because Emily realised that the noise of the streets were fading away, they were running along alleys now, and the relentless paparazzis were still behind them, though much further away. Emily tried hard to think if she could have seen Naomi before? Since she said she was famous? On a magazine? No… The rare times she watched TV? Nope. Emily concluded she was really out of touch with pop culture.

Her thoughts were rudely disrupted when Naomi came to a halt without warning, making Emily bump right into her shoulder blades.

"Ow, why did you sto-," Emily started, just as she caught sight of Naomi's gaping face and what lay ahead of them.

Emily saw the entire river lined with _countless_ wooden boats along the banks. The boats were empty and bobbing up and down on the water, some were tied to the banks with a thick rope, some were tied to other boats. Just about ten metres away from them was the other side of the river. _So near yet so far_, thought Emily. She and Naomi were staring down at one of Bangkok's world-famous tourist attractions: the floating market. And they were effectively trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

Naomi stared down at the great divide of water that cut off their only viable escape route, the smirk on her face from before replaced with a look of utter dismay.

"Shit," she cursed. The other bank of the river was only a few metres away from where they were standing. _So near yet so far_. If only they could leap on the water surface like those ultrahuman kungfu masters in Chinese movies.

"Naomi Campbell!" shouts rang out from somewhere not far off in the alleys.

"Great," began Naomi sarcastically, "Well, since they're going to be needing photos for my whole coming-out story cum exotic lesbian adventure in the tabloids tomorrow, I might as well try and look pretty in those shots," giving her hair a quick sweep to the side and pretending to dust off her pants.

Naomi's eyes darted to Emily who had gone all quiet and realised that the red-head did not seem to appreciate the humor at this time of crisis. "I'm sorry," Naomi began apologetically. "I really didn't mean to drag you into this-."

"Do you trust me?" interrupted Emily as she turned and looked at Naomi, her hazel-brown eyes sincere and boring into Naomi's azure blue.

"Wha-, What?" Naomi stuttered and leaned back instinctively, taken aback by the sudden intensity in those eyes. Her heart was thumping furiously for some unknown reason.

"Do you trust me," repeated Emily, her voice deep and soothing as she gave a squeeze of Naomi's hand. It sounded more like a statement than a question to Naomi.

"Yes…" Naomi said in a voice so low that it seemed to be more for herself than for Emily to hear. Her head hung low as she dared herself to steal a glance at the red-head. There was something in those intense eyes that made Naomi feel instinctively vulnerable, yet want to trust the bearer at the same time. They had a sort of power that she couldn't explain… It was as if they could stare right into her soul and see through all of her. Naomi swallowed hard as she tried to steady herself and block out those strange feelings.

Emily smiled kindly when she noticed how Naomi looked so distraught by the situation they were in. She gave Naomi's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You'll be fine. Follow my footsteps closely and do not stop until you reach the other side. Not even for a split second. Let's go," Emily said in a calm and calculated voice, as she locked her fingers with Naomi's and ran towards the edge of the river.

"W- wait!" cried out a confused Naomi as she was dragged along by Emily.

"Naomi Campbell!" came the screams from behind them as the three men managed to catch up and were readying to whip out their cameras to capture evidence for their article titled _Naomi Campbell's Great Lesbian Rendezvous in an Exotic Land_.

"Now! Jump!" yelled Emily as she leaped into the air pulling Naomi close to her.

For a moment Naomi thought that Emily must be insane, that they were going to land with a splash in the water. She felt her body suspended for a while in the air and shut her eyes instinctively as she waited for her feet to feel something wet, but that never came. All she heard was a very loud "thud" on the wooden planks as her feet landed on the side platform of the river.

"Step only where I step on and do not stop!" Emily shouted while keeping her eyes ahead.

Naomi thought the whole situation felt really surreal as she clasped tightly onto the hand of the red-head in front of her and followed her footsteps closely, trying not to lag behind as they leapt from bobbing boat to bobbing boat. _Is she really leaping or is this all just a dream?_ Naomi glanced at Emily, who looked extremely calm in their crisis as she led her from one wooden boat onto another in several quick motions. If all else seemed unreal, the hand that was locked with Naomi's hand felt real enough.

The boats swayed dangerously from side to side and twice Naomi was almost sure the boat on which she was stepping on was going to flip over and capsize, yet it didn't. It was as if Emily knew exactly where to tread on to keep them from falling into the water. Even the one time that Naomi lost her balance and was nearly thrown off her feet, Emily managed to hold onto her fast enough to keep her standing. Naomi couldn't help feeling that she would be safe as long as Emily was holding her hand.

They reached the other side of the river just in time to see that rain had started to pour and the three men, who were attempting to do the same to cross the river, had stupidly capsized a boat with all their weight and had landed in the water with all their camera equipment, cursing and thumping their fists in the water angrily.

Naomi and Emily ran off into the alleys with their fingers still locked together, running till they reached a side street where they saw cars and people again. As they stopped and bent over panting from the run, they exchanged looks of amusement and burst into laughter at the same time. Their hair was wet from the rain, their cheeks were cold from the wind but their hearts were radiating warmth from within. All around them, the cars had turned on the headlights and were moving along at a snail's pace now, while the people were running all over the streets looking for shelter.

"Thank you, Emily" Naomi offered sincerely, with a big smile on her face. She watched with mild fascination as the serious, confident red-head with an intense demeanor from moments ago at the river disappeared in a flash. Emily smiled and looked down abashedly, suddenly finding the ground very interesting. "You're welcome," she said with a sheepish grin.

The two stood for a few seconds in this sweet silence which Naomi eventually broke.

"We ought to look for shelter first, eh?" suggested Naomi, scrunching her face at the droplets of rain running down her forehead. Emily nodded and was about to say something, when a truck which they hadn't noticed before sped past them and sent a huge puddle of muddy water splashing in their faces.

The both of them screamed at the same time, squeezing their eyes tightly shut as the wave of water drenched them from head down.

"Shit," cursed Naomi as she looked down and saw her clothes were dripping with mud. Emily was also completely soaked, her arms smeared with a layer of dirt and mud.

"Over there," Emily gestured, cocking her head in the direction of an old bicycle shop which had its shutters down.

The duo sat in silence at the front of the shop, which had a roof barely wide enough to shield them from the rain. Naomi glanced sideways and watched Emily quietly as the latter attempted to swipe off the mud off her hands and clothes, her face a look of frustration when the dirt on her blouse wouldn't go away.

"This must be the worst day ever," said Emily as she examined her soiled clothes in despair. She must have noticed that Naomi had gone all quiet because she quickly added, "No, … something else bad happened earlier tonight. Well, before I bumped into you on the streets, I was at a club and, …" Emily's mind flashed back to the brunette whom Cook paid to seduce her at the club.

"Oh, forget about it," Emily decided not to tell Naomi and changed the subject. "Urgh, how on earth do I get this crap off," said Emily in frustration as she went back to trying to get rid of the mud on her blouse.

Naomi's eyes darted to the rain that had turned from a slight drizzle into a heavy downpour and back at the red-head. A mischievous glint surfaced in her eye as she grinned from ear to ear at the idea that had formed in her head.

"What?" Emily asked, suddenly self-conscious at the stare that Naomi was giving her.

Naomi stood up, took Emily's hand with a smile and proceeded to drag her to her feet.

"Naomi…" protested a confused Emily.

Naomi led Emily back into the alley which was now empty of people, the rain pouring down on them in torrents.

"What the heck, …Naomi!" Emily yelled above the rain, caught by surprise as the cold waves of water came gushing down on her body.

Naomi was standing in the rain with her eyes closed and her face lifted up towards the sky, her hands spread wide-eagled on her sides and fingers wiggling as they felt the sheets of rain weaving through them. The feeling of the streams of rain sliding off her forehead and her cheekbone made her smile. She tilted her head sideways and peeked at Emily with one eye, and saw that Emily was not yelling anymore, but was staring at her intently.

"Nature's shower," Naomi explained with a wink and added with a playful grin, "It's the best solution I can think of for your soiled blouse."

Emily raised her brows at the blonde as if to say _r__eaaally? _but she couldn't stop the smile that escaped her lips all the same. A smile that showed that she was already taken in by the blonde.

Emily held up her head so that the rain came slapping lightly on her face, her eyes shut as she concentrated on savoring this moment of pure bliss. All she heard then was the rhythmic pitter patter of the rain, and the gentle humming of her own heartbeat. Emily's face scrunched into a child-like grin as she tasted the rain with the tip of her tongue. The last time she did that was with Katie when they were both seven, on Nana's farm. The twins were playing with the sheep in the fields when it suddenly started to drizzle. Since Mom and Dad weren't around then, they decided to stay out in the rain in playful defiance and had a competition to see who could store more rainwater in their mouths. Katie won in the end, though Emily always suspected that her devious twin had cheated by taking sips from her water tumbler when she wasn't looking. Still, that was one of the rather fond moments she had shared with her sister. Never in her seven-year-old self's wildest dreams would she expect to do that again 16 years later on the alley of an Asian city, with a mind-numbingly gorgeous blonde she had just met (and had already kissed) an hour before.

Emily's thoughts were rudely cut off and she was brought back to reality by the sound of an unexpected loud splash followed by the feeling of something cold and wet on her exposed thighs. Her eyes flew open as she looked down at the ripples in the puddle of water on the uneven ground, and then up at Naomi, who was biting her lips to stop a cheeky grin from escaping. Her gleeful eyes were shining with child-like innocence and excitement.

"I was just curious to see if it's possible to be wetter than you already are," said Naomi as she stuck out her tongue. "Turns out that you can!" she laughed as she turned the other way and started running away from the red-head.

Emily stood stunned for a moment before breaking into a chase after the blonde who was still giggling as she ran along the alley they were in.

"NAOMI CAMPBELL!" came the screams.

It was a bad idea on Naomi's part to have done that to Emily, for if there was anything that Emily was wonderfully skilled at and trained from young, it was in the faculty of running. Emily thought she spent so much of her childhood chasing after and running away from Katie (usually after their crazy twin fights) that she suspected that they had skipped the phase of walking altogether when they were toddlers.

Thus it was rather inevitable when Naomi was caught by Emily only ten seconds after she ran away and was served with a taste of her own medicine. The frantic puddle-stepping ensued, with screams and laughter ringing out in the empty alley.

"Wait!" said Emily as she stopped suddenly and held her hand up, her ears seemingly straining to hear something in the distance.

"What is it?" Naomi's laughter faded at once as she eyed Emily seriously.

"Do you hear the paparazzi?" Emily asked as she cupped her ears on one side.

Naomi's face was a look of worry as she listened intently for any sounds other than the sound of rain falling on the roofs.

"There they are!" Emily burst out abruptly as she gestured to the ground animatedly.

Instinctively, Naomi looked to where Emily was pointing, only in time to see another splash of puddle coming in her face. Emily's deep, throaty laughter rang out as the red-head turned and ran off in glee.

_That's right_,_ Naomi Campbell. _She mentally smacked herself._ How on earth would the paparazzi be on the GROUND?!_

"EMILY FITCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Naomi smiled to herself as she leaned against the backboard of the hotel bed and thought about the evening's events. Her hair was still dripping slightly wet from the shower she had just came out from, and she was snuggled up in bed with a blanket. Next to her was another twin bed, and Thomas was sleeping soundly, his face turned towards the wall.

It had all started when she and Thomas were drinking at a bar along another street in the district that Emily was in, and Naomi noticed this group of three men who kept eyeing her from across the room. At first, she thought they were just interested, but it seemed implausible to her upon thinking, when she remembered that she had disguised herself as a boy to avoid unwanted attention. When she saw that one of the men had whipped up a camera from the bags, she knew the game of chase had once again kicked off.

"Thomas," Naomi whispered as she tugged at the sleeve of her confused friend who was sipping a beer with eyes still focused on the live band playing. "We've got to go. You'll go left, I'll go right."

The next thing she knew, Naomi was running as fast as her legs could carry her down several streets with the three men hot on her heels. She was running out of breath and cursing in her mind when she spotted a lone white girl with fiery red hair on the streets. An idea sprang up in her head, and she decided to play a game of chance.

Naomi smiled as her fingers touched her lips. She had kissed girls before, mostly out of fun and for dorky camera poses at parties or the likes, but never had she felt such intense feelings ever when kissing a girl. Scrap that, never had she felt such intense feelings when kissing _anyone. _Her intention was to give only a light kiss as a smokescreen to confuse the paparazzi, but when she pressed her lips against Emily's, her head dizzied in excitement and she couldn't explain the furious thumping of her heart that had ensued. In fact, she was so caught up in the moment she had kissed longer than she should, a fact she was embarrassed for afterwards.

Naomi thought it might be her imagination, but the red-headed stranger seemed to not have minded though. Naomi saw that she had apparently stunned Emily with her unexpected kiss, and the bright blush that had crept up on Emily's face had been so endearing to Naomi that her heart swooned a little at the shyness of the girl. If there was anything that was missing in the people she knew in the entertainment industry, it was shyness and innocence. Everything was frivolous, easy and meaningless and nothing really mattered. A kiss shared between two girls wouldn't have meant a hoot to those people. Heck, a French kiss shared with a half-hippo half-dinosaur wouldn't have meant two hoots to them.

Then, when Naomi thought the game was up at the floating market, Emily surprised her with her calmness and deftness in dealing with the emergency before them. The shy girl from before she had snogged against the wall had morphed into someone who was confident and steady, someone in full control of the situation and whom Naomi felt she could depend on then. Naomi felt genuinely safe and grounded with Emily's hand curled around hers, even though she had only known the stranger minutes before. _And that voice of hers!_ Deep, sexy and _different_. Naomi felt like she had heard that voice somewhere before, and hearing it had soothed her nerves when Emily reassured her back at the river.

Naomi's mind flashed back to their puddle fight. It was when she discovered a playful and cheeky side to this enigmatic stranger. She grinned from ear to ear as she pulled her knees to her chest and thought back about what happened.

* * *

Emily had managed to run so quickly that Naomi ran out of breath before she could get within five feet of the red-head.

"One hell of a national sprinter, aren't you," panted Naomi as she held one hand against her knee, catching her breath.

"I've training for the next Olympics," said Emily as she winked at the blonde who was a few metres away behind her.

"Truce, please," suggested a breathless Naomi and Emily burst out into triumphant laughter.

They ended up walking back to the main street in the rain. Naomi explained the entire story with the paparazzi to Emily as the latter listened quietly without questions, and along the way Naomi found out that Emily had a twin that was very alike yet very different from Emily.

"I can't imagine how it had been for your mother to have two of _you," _said Naomi, chuckling.

"Well, my mother's still alive and surviving. It will take a lot more to kill her," replied Emily with giggle. Naomi can't help noticing in Emily's voice she had kind of half-meant what she had just said. She wondered for a moment in her head how the relationship between Emily and her mother was like.

"How in the world did you know where exactly to step so that the boat wouldn't capsize under our weight?" Naomi asked, deciding against probing more and changing the topic instead.

"It just takes a little knowledge of physics, I guess. Centre of gravity and stuffs," Emily shrugged.

"You are making me sound really stupid," said Naomi with a look of mock annoyance. "Well, it's rare," she added after thinking.

"What's rare?" asked Emily.

"Girls being good at physics, that is," said Naomi.

"Yeah it is, but I'm not really your conventional type of girl I guess. I was always interested in useless stuffs that no one else bothers with when I was younger," said Emily, her tone was one more of sad resignation than pride when she stressed on the word, "conventional".

"Physics _is _definitely useful," offered Naomi with a smile.

"Sure it is. It saved both our asses just now," Emily said with a laugh.

When they had got to the main streets it finally stopped raining. The cars on the roads were moving at normal speeds, and people were starting to appear again.

"I've gotta run," said Emily, looking at her watch, as if remembering something.

"Oh," Naomi could hardly hide the disappointment in her voice.

"I need to work tomorrow, so I need the sleep," explained Emily with a gentle smile when she sensed what the blonde was thinking.

"Uh, …would I get to see you again?" Naomi blurted out awkwardly before she could stop herself.

"Well, when are you leaving for Bristol?" asked Emily, trying hard not to notice the blush on Naomi's face.

"Tomorrow, it's a midnight flight," replied Naomi.

Emily smiled knowingly. "Well, maybe we will meet each other at the airport."

Naomi's eyes widened in surprise as she sputtered, "Jesus! We- We're taking the same flight?"

Emily laughed, nodding her head.

"That's just perfect! We could sit together during the flight," Naomi said.

"Sure, if you could find out where I'm sitting," said Emily teasingly.

"I'll comb the cabins for any trace of red-head in sight. In any case, I could listen out for your husky voice. It's so distinctive I wouldn't miss it," Naomi sputtered in one long sentence, blushing slightly when she realised what she had just said.

Emily laughed her deep throaty laugh again. "I bet you wouldn't too."

* * *

Naomi sat restlessly in her seat. Every few seconds she craned her neck and lifted her sunglasses a little to look around the cabin for a red-haired girl, but to her disappointment, there wasn't any in sight. After a while, she finally gave up and took a copy of the in-flight magazine in the seat pocket in front of her and started to browse through absent-mindly, her eyes still looking up once in a while for any sign of Emily in the lines of passengers who were still streaming into the aircraft.

Looking out the window, she smiled as she thought of the adventure that befell her and the red-headed stranger the night before. Being chased by the paparazzi, weaving through the streets of Bangkok and leaping across the boats in a floating market with a dazzling (not to mention, ridiculously calm in the face of danger) stranger in her hand? She had all kinds of weird and wacky experiences as a celebrity, but _that_ experience must be one of its kind.

What particularly caught her attention about Emily was the fact that Emily never expressed curiosity about her celebrity status. It didn't seem to matter to Emily whether Naomi was famous or not. She treated her like any other person she had just got to know. And that, Naomi really appreciated in a world where she felt like everyone was always fussing over her and chipping away at the bit of little privacy she still had left.

Naomi's thoughts were cut off by an announcement made by the crew of the aircraft. They were about to take off, and still, there was no sign of Emily around. Naomi was starting to worry that Emily had lied to keep her off her back. _No_, Naomi thought, _Emily wouldn't do that_. She was positive that the red-head liked her. Before Naomi's thoughts could run any wilder, she was abruptly distracted by one familiar husky voice in the aircraft speaking.

"…and Gentlemen, this is your 1st Officer, Emily Fitch speaking. On behalf of our entire crew, I would like to welcome you onboard flight XF313 to Bristol. The estimated time of arrival at our destination is 5:30am local time. The flight duration is approximately 11 hours 15 minutes. The weather's rather fine tonight, no clouds, we've got a beautiful starry sky out there, and we are expecting a smooth flight today. Once again we thank you for choosing to fly with us and we hope you enjoy your journey."

"Fuck," muttered Naomi as her jaw dropped open and the sunglasses perched on her forehead fell to her nose.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily studied the figures on the navigation display. No signs of abnormality in the current wind speeds and wind direction. She took a quick glance at the flight route information. Based on the coordinates stated, there was a possibility of slight turbulence when they flew somewhere above the Alps in Germany. She made a mental note of that, and after one last check of the figures on the primary flight display panel, her hand reached forward to engage the autopilot system.

Even though it was almost completely dark in the cockpit, Emily saw that the Captain who was sitting next to her had given her an approving nod. She had worked together with him a few times on previous long-haul flights and initially, the reputation that the old chap had for being really difficult and strict had made Emily rather nervous. Rumors had it that it didn't matter if you were male or female, his superior or his subordinate, how many flight hours you had clocked or how much experience you had in flying; he would let you have a taste of his hard-handed ways as long as you made one teeny weeny mistake. In other words, you had to be _perfect_. But the last we heard, nobody was perfect. So you could imagine the number of 'casualties' that had died in his hands so far. Captain Velleman was his name, but the younger pilots preferred to call him Captain Ironman (behind his back of course).

But right after her first time flying with Captain Ironman, Emily decided the rumors were clearly exaggerated. Sure, the man was strict to the point of being pedantic (or anal in slang, if you like) about pre-flight navigation plans and their degree of accuracy, but Emily had always thought that those were necessary as well; safety was of paramount importance in her field. After a couple more opportunities to work with the legendary Ironman, Emily had come to appreciate his wealth of knowledge in aviation and his unwavering professionalism. Their last flight together to New York saw Emily handling a crisis calmly and skillfully during a major turbulence that disrupted radio communications, and Ironman was obviously impressed with the young lady's abilities when he said to her shortly after they landed, "well done, kid," with his usual expressionless face. Poker face or not, Ironman never praised _anyone,_ and since that one incident Emily's name spread like wildfire in the company. Almost all the senior pilots would have heard of her name while the younger pilots would talk in hushed voices whenever she walked into a room, and these were at times accompanied by some blatant finger-pointing and prolonged staring that really got onto Emily's nerves. Those with nerves of steel who dared to go forward and ask for a date, were curtly rejected with a "That's nice of you, but too bad I'm really gay."

That didn't help matters much though, for thereafter there were three other female pilots and a handful of air stewardesses who asked her out on dates, and who would make flirtatious eye contact whenever she walked past them. Emily scowled at all this attention and had no idea what the whole fuss was about; she'd only wanted to do her job well. Fame was nowhere on her agenda.

This time round, Emily was excited that she was assigned to fly with Ironman again, and was secretly delighted when he placed her in command for taking-off and most part of the flight. It showed that Ironman trusted her enough and was giving her an opportunity to gain experience.

Emily leaned back and exhaled deeply as she stared ahead into the night sky. It was a relatively cloudless night, and the innumerable stars scattered across the darkness reminded her why she would prefer a seat in the cockpit to a seat in the passenger's cabin any day.

_Why do people always say that stars twinkle?_ Emily had seen enough stars in her life to know that they don't. She knew that because when she was young, she had spent many nights alone on the rooftop watching the stars above her head. She even tried once to keep her eyes wide open without blinking at all for one full minute so that she wouldn't miss it if a star had twinkled. But no, the light never did go out once. Her conclusion for that night was that the world's most famous nursery rhyme was lying to all the children in the world.

It's true that her mind was always filled with random and meaningless thoughts like that.

A smile escaped Emily's lips as her mind wandered off to the night before, the scene of her and Naomi in the rain replaying in her head. Naomi was standing before her, her eyes closed and her face towards the sky, her arms spreading wide open to embrace the rain and that dazzling smile on Naomi's face had taken Emily's breath away. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen in her life.

_Nature's shower, she had said with a wink. _

Emily didn't think Naomi had a clue just how swiftly and deftly she had unwittingly captured her heart in that one moment, without even having to try.

Since they parted the night before, Emily couldn't keep her mind off Naomi no matter how hard she tried. Whatever she was doing, images of Naomi seemed to creep stealthily back into her thoughts. This morning when she woke up alone in the hotel room, the first thing that came to mind was the pair of beautiful blue eyes that could make her heart beat crazily fast with just one glance. At the hotel lobby when she was gathered with Cook and Freddie and the rest of the pilots, she found herself constantly distracted from the conversation thinking about the slender fingers she had locked in her own as they both ran in the drizzle. Earlier that evening the charming cheeky grin Naomi had while leading her into the rain had kept breaking her concentration when she was doing the navigation plans in the pilots' lounge with Freddie and another 2nd Officer for their flight. Freddie was surprised to see Emily spacing out; the red-head was always focused when it came to work.

"Ems, you okay?" Freddie asked in a concerned voice.

"What?" Emily said, awakened from her daydream. "Y- Yeah, I'm fine." She replied as she registered Freddie's question in her mind.

"Jesus, you sure? It's not like you to be distracted during work," said Freddie as he observed Emily closely.

_Yes, Emily Fitch, it's not like you at all to lose control of your mind like that. Why the hell are you so affected by a random stranger you've just met last night? What's wrong with you?_

Emily sighed. She was really annoyed with her own lack of self-control, but the more she painstakingly tried to chase those thoughts of Naomi away, the more they kept returning to ambush her on all fronts. It was as if her mind was laughing at her as it said, _Nope, you can't fight it bitch. Just take it and quit this meaningless struggle_.

As Freddie and the 2nd Officer went back to discussing the flight route, Emily's mind had already slid off to some alternate universe where she was reliving the kiss at first sight with Naomi. _The_ kiss. The kiss that sent one megawatt worth of electricity through Emily's body crippling her heart and all other vital organs. The kiss that left a tingling feeling on her lips long after they parted. The one kiss that Emily's body surprisingly didn't resist.

_Why, Emily, why do you feel this way? You have kissed dozens of women before, why does this one just feel so different? Had it been so long that your body forgot how it's like to be kissed? _

_But no, _Emily thought. _Her body had resisted the brunette back at the club when she planted her lips on her own. Why didn't her body resist Naomi then? _

_Why, why in the world does it feel like a first kiss when it wasn't one? _

Emily couldn't put her finger on it as to why, but she knew Naomi was definitely _different._

"Captain Velleman, Ms Fitch, Mr McClair, Mr Pitt," addressed a voice politely from behind her that cut off her thoughts and brought her back to the cockpit.

Emily spun her head back on her pilot's seat and saw a tall and sweet-looking blonde in cabin crew uniform who was smiling down at her. Her hair neatly combed and tied into a bun. She was pushing in a little cart piled full with food through the door.

"Hey," Emily said with a gentle smile when she recognized that it was Hazel, one of the air stewardesses she had flown a few times with.

Emily turned to her left, and saw Captain Velleman raising his brows and cocking his head slightly in the direction of Hazel.

"I'll take it from here," he said as he looked back ahead with a stoic face.

"Thanks, Captain," said Emily as she stood up to go to the toilets. _Finally a break to stretch those limbs that have been in the same position for far too long._ Behind her Freddie and the other 2nd officer were hungrily gobbling down the sandwiches they had grabbed from the cart.

Emily smiled at Hazel warmly as she made her way past the blonde to get to the door, but she felt a hand tugging at her arm.

"Ms Fitch," the blonde began.

Emily stopped in her tracks and looked at Hazel in surprise before saying with a smile, "Call me Emily."

Hazel blushed and bowed her head a little as she said, "Emily," her voice trembling a little saying the red-head's first name out loud. Her eyes darted to Captain Velleman as she said to Emily in a whisper, "Th- There's a note from a blonde lady in the economic cabin for you," as she handed a folded airsickness bag to Emily. "She said she knew you. We are not allowed to do this, if Captain Velleman knew, I'd be dead… but I thought it might be important to you."

The familiar fluttering in Emily's stomach returned as she smiled knowingly and took the bag from Hazel.

"Thanks for doing this, Hazel," whispered Emily back with a grateful smile.

Emily unfolded the airsickness bag and knew who it was from before she saw the sender's sign-off. The words were large and generous and were written cursively in black ink across the bag.

**You sneaky person!**

**Will confront you after we land - since my life is unfortunately in your hands now. **

**Fly me home safely and don't doze off on the job!**

**xx Naomi**

Hazel watched Emily closely while she was reading the words on the bag. Her face fell when she saw the red-head's lips curled into a blissful smile as her eyes scanned the words on the airsickness bag.

"Hmm, who is it from?" Hazel ventured, trying to sound casual about her question. She was wildly jealous that someone had managed to make Emily Fitch smile like that.

"Just a really great girl I bumped into on the streets last night," replied Emily distractedly with a dorky grin plastered on her face as she studied the words again and again, her eyes never leaving the bag once.

"Oh," said Hazel, her heart sinking.

"Thanks Hazel," said Emily with a wildly charming smile as she turned her attention back to Hazel, who barely managed to force out a weak smile as she replied, "You're welcome, Emily".

* * *

Emily walked out of the gate into the arrival hall, pulling her carry-on suitcase behind her. Her eyes scanned watchfully around the spacious hall for one particular blonde, but she was nowhere in sight. Freddie was walking beside her, gesturing animatedly as he ranted on about Captain Velleman acting like a jerk during the flight. Apparently Freddie had yawned and unwittingly made a casual comment in the cockpit that he was really tired from the "wild last night in Bangkok", and that had summoned an hour-long lecture from the Ironman, coated excessively with his unique brand of rock-cutting sarcasm.

"You know the health and mental state of a pilot are as crucial as pre-flight plans and inspections," Emily said impassively after Freddie had ranted long enough. "We owe a responsibility to all whom we bring onboard our aircraft, Fred. Ironman was right in lecturing you for drinking your ass off last night," said Emily with a roll of her eyes.

"But that was more than 12 hours before our flight, Ems! I haven't even broken any rules; he had no right to make me listen to his shit talk for one whole freaking hour!" Freddie retorted agitatedly, feeling sore that Emily should take Ironman's side.

"Still, it's a fact that you were obviously tired during the flight. You almost dozed off while eating your sandwich! Plus I kind of found a few mistakes in the navigation plans that you made, though I'd covered it up for you," replied Emily quietly.

"You did?" Freddie asked in surprise, the anger in his eyes gone in his flash as he lowered his voice a little in embarrassment.

"Yeah," said Emily as she laughed at Freddie's quick change of expressions and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "So quit talking and buy me a drink, bitch."

The duo walked on for a while more in friendly chatter before Emily's attention was caught by sudden fervent screaming and wolf-whistles from the other end of the arrival hall. She turned and saw that a group of people was crowding in a circle as a familiar figure walked out of the arrival gate; on both sides of the figure were apparently two burly and stoic-looking bodyguards who were pushing back the crowd gone wild.

"God, that's Naomi Campbell!" cried Freddie as his jaw dropped open upon recognition of the blonde who had her shades on.

"You know her?" asked Emily as her eyes widened in utmost surprise. She had no idea Naomi was _that _famous.

"Are you kidding me? _Frontman_ of Ace of Wands? I'm like their biggest fan!" Freddie replied with an incredulous look, obviously taking offence that Emily knew nothing about the existence of the band.

_Ace of Wands..? _

Emily thought she heard that name somewhere before.

"Internationally acclaimed alternative rock group from our very own town? Took home a whopping five Grammy awards last year?" beamed Freddie proudly as he enthusiastically advertised his favorite band to a clueless Emily who was severely retarded in pop culture.

In a second, realization hit Emily suddenly as she recalled what she read in the papers once.

_Ace of Wands. The band that started with humble beginnings in their little town to achieve international fame all over the world. The band that got famous for rejecting a role in Woody Allen's new movie because they wanted to "stay focused on their music and keep it real". Ace of Wands. The pride of Britain. The pride of Bristol. _

Wait a minute, Naomi is the FRONTMAN of Ace of Wands?

Emily snapped out of her thoughts as she recognised a familiar figure with platinum blonde hair walking in their direction. Not far behind the blonde were several security guards and bodyguards who were forming a line to hold an entire crowd back screaming out a name Emily knew so well.

"Oh my god, she's walking over to us!" sputtered Freddie nervously as a squeak escaped his voice and he tugged urgently on Emily's blazer, his eyes still watching the girl who was making her way over.

"Hey," said Naomi as she neared Emily, removing the shades to reveal the beautiful blue eyes behind.

"Hey," said Emily, smiling gently as she locked eyes with Naomi. _God, how she missed those eyes_.

"Wha- What the… You.. You two know each other?!" Freddie stuttered in shock as his head switched back and forth the two girls in a rapid motion, his face an incredulous expression.

"Hello, you must be Emily's colleague. I'm Naomi," said Naomi politely as she tore her eyes off Emily to look at Freddie, her hand extended out for a handshake.

"H- H- Hi, Naomi Campbell… I'm… I'm… I'm Freddie," stammered Freddie, as his trembling hand took Naomi's hand and shook it weakly, his reaction making Naomi laugh heartily. Emily's heart twitched a little at the sound of her laugh.

"Jesus, I shook Naomi Campbell's hand," said Freddie dazedly as he looked at his palms like a child.

"God, Fred, you're such an embarrassment," said Emily, rolling her eyes. Her eyes flickered to Naomi and saw that the blonde was staring at her in a dreamy gaze. A blush broke out in Naomi's cheeks when she realised she was caught.

"Well, 1st Officer Fitch, why did you mislead me into thinking we were taking the same flight? That was really sneaky of you," Naomi changed the subject quickly to let the awkward moment pass over, her eyes narrowing at Emily in mock anger and her lips pursed into a straight line.

"Well, I didn't exactly mislead you," reasoned Emily gleefully. "We_ were_ taking the same flight, just that I was in the cockpit and you, were in the passenger's cabin," she added with a playful glint in her eye.

"Very clever," scorned Naomi.

"Besides, you were not so honest yourself huh. You didn't tell me that you were _that_ famous," added Emily, her head cocking towards the crowd that was far behind Naomi and still struggling to get past the guards.

Naomi turned her head back at the crowd, at which the screaming abruptly became louder, and sighed as she turned back.

"Believe it or not, I'm not really liking all this attention," said Naomi, a tinge of unhappiness clearly lining her voice as she looked down at the floor.

Emily watched that troubled expression on Naomi's face closely. She realised that after their little adventure that night, she had already seen many of Naomi's different expressions. She saw her being nervous and afraid as they leapt on the boats; she saw her gleeful, mischievous look when she started the puddle fight; she saw her looking all calm and blissful when she let the rain fall on her face; she saw her delighted face as they laughed and played in the rain. This was the first time Emily had seen Naomi being sad, and she didn't like it at all. For some reason she felt a really strong urge to lean forward and hold Naomi in her arms to comfort her.

"Anyway," Naomi said as she snapped out of her own melancholy and forced a weak smile at Emily, "I just wanted to give you this."

Emily looked at the two long and rectangular pieces of paper in Naomi's hands. They looked like entrance tickets for a concert.

"No shit, tickets to an Ace of Wands gig?!" Freddie yelled a little too loud as his eyes widened in amazement at the tickets still in Naomi's hand.

Naomi smiled cheerily and nodded at Freddie. She turned back to Emily and said, "I really hope you would be able to come," as she glanced a little shyly into those hazel-brown eyes. "It would make me..,"

"I'd love to," said Emily almost immediately, her eyes sincere and soft as they stared back into Naomi's eyes.

"… very happy," Naomi trailed off at the end of the sentence as her heart leaped a little at what Emily had just said, her cheeks flushing as she bashfully broke eye contact.

"Great," Naomi said, looking up after a while, the megawatt smile on her face could be spotted from a mile away. "I gave you two tickets, so you could bring someone along," added Naomi. She studied Emily closely in anticipation of her reaction, searching for an answer to the question she really wanted to ask: _if_ _Emily had __a **someone** __to bring along?_

"Me! Me! Bring me! Please, Emily! You're the best. Bring me, you won't regret it, I promise," Freddie began a series of pleads as he tugged onto Emily's blazer again like a kid, his brows furrowing in a manner Emily could only describe as fangirling desperation. (Well, in this case, _fanboying desperation_).

"Fine," said Emily with a roll of her eyes. Freddie had successfully managed to make the suave pilot uniform they were wearing look bad with his childish and pathetic public display of obsessive fandom.

"ALRIGHT BABY! Ace of Wands, here I come!" yelled Freddie as he punched his fist in the air in a dramatic fashion, doing a little skip on the spot, making Naomi laugh and Emily look around them embarrassedly to see if people were staring.

"I could give you another ticket, if you like," said Naomi as she glanced at Emily.

"It's fine," said Emily. "I wouldn't have known who else to bring anyway," she added.

Emily thought she saw Naomi's eyes lit up for a moment, but she brushed it off as only her imagination.

Naomi turned her head back to the crowd as she heard her manager shouting to her above all the screaming.

"I've got to go, they can't hold it out any longer," said Naomi as she stuck a tongue, shrugging her shoulders and smiling amusedly as she pointed her thumb at the crowd behind.

"I'll see you at your gig," said Emily as she nodded with a quiet smile.

"See you," Naomi said as she was about to turn to walk away, when she paused and looked hesitantly at Emily.

Emily felt her breath hitch as Naomi leaned forward to her left shoulder in one quick motion like she was going to kiss her on the cheek. But it seemed like Naomi had suddenly realised something, and had stopped herself in time before her lips could touch Emily's cheek.

Instead, Naomi leaned back as her hand reached out and dusted Emily's blazer gently on the shoulder, her fingers tracing the buttons and badge on the blazer.

"This uniform suits you," said Naomi softly as she pulled away with a gentle smile.

Waving goodbye to Freddie, she took one last look at Emily before turning and walking back towards the crowd.

Emily's heart was beating furiously against her rib cage. Her cheeks were scalding from the close proximity she and Naomi had shared moments ago and the trailing of the blonde's fingers across her chest had left a peculiar tingling sensation in her lower torso as she watched the blonde slip away into the crowd. On the other side of the hall, the crowd was turning wild at the sight of their idol returning.

_Was it just her or was Naomi really going to kiss her on her cheek? And if she was, why didn't she in the end? And what would it have meant if she did? Does that mean that Naomi liked her too?_

Emily inhaled deeply as she closed her eyes and opened them again.

_This blonde was driving her a little too crazy for her liking._

"Yoohoo, come back to earth," said Freddie as he waved a hand in front of Emily's dazed face.

Emily scoffed at Freddie and started walking off in the other direction.

"Dude, save it," said Freddie as he caught up with Emily and looked intently at her.

"What's that?" said Emily as she eyed Freddie questioningly.

"She doesn't play for your team. You can forget about her," said Freddie with a knowing look on his face.

"How do you even know that?" Emily rolled her eyes as she scorned.

"She said so herself in interviews! She dates men! And tons of them, at that. Well, at least the rumors say so," explained Freddie in a matter-of-fact tone.

Emily's heart sank at Freddie's words.

"Well, you must be really developed in your mental faculties to believe what those dumb tabloids say," said Emily curtly as she tried to defend Naomi. She couldn't help feeling that she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Freddie.

"Believe me, Emily. I know it," said Freddie, exasperated that Emily refused to listen to him.

"You don't know shit, Fred," retorted Emily sharply, as her mind flashed back to the scene of Naomi and her running through the alleys away from the paparazzi. She knew those tabloid reporters would blow anything out of proportion just to publish a good ol' tantalising scandal, however far from the truth it was. Emily was confident that Naomi wasn't like what Freddie had said.

"Fine. But at least she's admitted that she's dated Tom McDowell before. That is no rumor; that is a fact. She's straight, Ems. Straight as an arrow," Freddie reasoned as he exhaled deeply.

Emily stopped in her tracks at Freddie's words. _Straight as an arrow. _That familiar dull pain shot through her heart as she recalled those words, "You know I love you, Emily. Just not in this way."

_Leia. _

Emily felt hands on the side of her arms as Freddie turned her to face him.

"Ems, I just don't want you to get hurt, you understand me? It's far too complicated to get involved with these… people. They live in a world that is different than our own. You read it in the news; they toy with feelings and fool around a lot. Relationships mean a fuck to them," said Freddie, who now had a solemn look on his face.

"And don't get it wrong, you are fucking hot and all, Ems, and hell yeah I'll chase you right this minute if you were into cocks. But seriously, who knows if she's not seeking you out just for the fun of it, just like another one of her experiments? You're like a breath of fresh air to her from her usual dose of glamorous celebrities. Someone gay and part of the common crowd, someone exciting and different. But she will dump you and go back to the hunks when the next celebrity comes along. Trust me, it's not her fault Ems, it's just the way the industry is._"_

"I love you very much Ems, and I don't want her to break your heart," Freddie said as his brows were locked in grave solemnity, his eyes looking at Emily with genuine concern.

Emily paused a moment and burst into a short laugh seeing Freddie's serious expression. She wasn't used to seeing him so solemn. Sensing that Freddie was not amused by her laughter, she bit her lip from laughing further and looked at Freddie with a softened expression in her eyes.

"Thanks Fred, I know you mean well," said Emily gratefully. "But hmm, wasn't someone swooning like a fangirl in front of his idol only a moment ago?" said Emily, teasing.

Freddie scoffed. "It's different. I'm her fan but I would never date her. It's just too different, our worlds," replied Freddie matter-of-factly.

"Could it be that you are saying all these so that you could be the one to chase her instead?" asked Emily as she eyed Freddie suspiciously.

"Oh, come on, Ems. If _I_ were to chase her, you would have no chance at all," said Freddie cockily, folding his arms and pretending to look around smugly.

"Yeah sure, you're the most charming in this world," said Emily as she laughed, pushing Freddie along as they made their way to the exit of the hall.

Amidst the cheer and laughter, Emily's face fell as she thought back about what Freddie had said.

_You're like a breath of fresh air to her from her usual dose of glamorous celebrities. Someone gay and part of the common crowd, someone exciting and different. But she will dump you and go back to the hunks when the next celebrity comes along. Trust me, it's not her fault Ems, it's just the way the industry is. _

Emily bit her lip hard as she felt a faint, lingering ache in her chest.

_I don't want her to break your heart._

* * *

p/s: wanna take this chance to thank everyone who had taken the time to read my story. i know my story's really painfully slow-moving, so to all who's made it to here (if any), hats off to your enduring patience! wanna say hello to all guests who left a comment too; i couldn't pm some of you, so i'll say my thanks here. (:

since i hardly come up here to leave a message, just a little more about why i wrote this story: so i stumbled upon author fitchswitch's [what the heart sees] a few weeks ago and got hooked onto it - which if you haven't read yet go do so now! shoo, shoo! - and well, the author sort of inspired me to write a naomily story. there were all these ideas running around in my head for quite some time, but i only decided to pen them down after i got restless waiting for an update from [what the heart sees].

so, there you go, the story behind this story. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**_Naomi Campbell Casts Love Spell in Foreign Land!_**

_**UNITED KINGDOM's**__ No.1 alternative rock group Ace of Wands might have rejected a guest role in Woody Allen's newest movie to "stay focused" on their music and to "keep it real", but their members are certainly not shying away from testing out their charms in areas other than their music – ooh, what's that again? – In the game of love and seduction? That's right baby, someone's in the mood for some lovin', we hear. _

_Frontman of Ace of Wands, Naomi Campbell, has once again proven herself to live up to the band's name. Following the stream of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors that had been rumored to have fallen for the irresistible charms of the star and had their hearts mercilessly broken thereafter (Tom McDowell, Harry Willis, Zac Clayton, just to name a few), the 23-year-old British vocalist and guitarist of Ace of Wands had been caught casting yet another one of her fatal love spells on an unsuspecting victim – this time in the exotic and enigmatic setting of the streets of Bangkok. (See photos below for evidence). _Awww, how romantic_, we say. _

_As we dutifully whipped out our cameras to snap a shot of their exotic rendezvous for our beloved readers, we managed to catch a glimpse of the unlucky chap who was waiting to have his poor heart broken ourselves. But hang on – something isn't right. We rubbed our eyes in amazement and concluded that our favorite British rocker babe must be tiring of her buffet spread of famous, glamorous and amorous celebrity hunks, because her most recent unwitting sacrifice is - *gasps!* _not _a celebrity, and *double gasps*- a _lady.

_Said damsel looking far from any distress who sported a head of fiery red hair and literally screamed "dyke!" from head to toe was seen cuddling intimately and engaging in heavy petting with our babe in a car, which eventually culminated in a thirty-second long passionate French kiss under our noses. The duo was then seen holding hands down the street while engaging in friendly chatter as they entered a hotel in the red-light district of Bangkok after that, for presumably some sweet lady lovin' that would last the entire night. _

_We know, we know. We find it hard to accept it as well, that the goddess of our musical fantasies (and other fantasies, if you know what we mean) has jumped on the gay bandwagon and gone over to the dark side. It was truly a sad day in the history of heterosexual mankind. _

_But you know what they say; the flames of passion rage the wildest in a stranger's land. We don't rule out the possibility that it was only a one-time lesbian escapade for the queen of our hearts - it could have been the cruel needles of loneliness that were pricking while being alone in a foreign country and the redheaded stranger (whom we unfortunately failed to identify) just happened to be around when our babe needed company. It was all too convenient, really._

_After all, it isn't all that surprising that our goddess' sexual magnetism should appeal to women as it did to men. The lady is literally sex personified with beauty, brains and talents. Which girl wouldn't turn gay for her? No doubt the Naomi Campbell charm is incredibly potent and more far-reaching than we have expected. We have underestimated you, O Queen Naomi._

_As for the question of whether our rocker babe would come back over to the bright side after she's had fun with her redhead, the answer remains to be seen._

_For now, start practising your Patronus charm mates; you don't know when our girl wizard is going to point her wand at you and break your heart next. – John Newton, Dave McCollins & Fred Yates_

"Fuck this shit," said Naomi as she flung the tabloid paper angrily to the other end of her bedroom floor. Just when she thought the rubbish those deranged reporters wrote couldn't get more ridiculous.

_Me and Emily engaging in heavy petting in a fucking car? French-kissing for thirty bloody seconds? Entering a hotel in the red-district to fuck all night? Where the fuck did all that nonsense come from?_

_So I guess if I'd owned one fucking paper now I could write all the fuck I want and say that hobbits and talking rabbits exist and nobody could say I'm lying huh?_

_Well, FUCK all of you. _

Naomi sat on the edge of her bed, shutting her eyes and inhaling deeply as she massaged her temples with her thumb and fingers. As a rule, she usually avoided reading all these tabloid articles because she had guessed that she would be affected by what they wrote, even though she knew that they were just writing rubbish. But earlier today she had bought one from the newspaper stand near her apartment building just to read it and make sure that Emily was not implicated by her in any way.

Thank goodness the pictures the paparazzi took were mostly shots of their backs while they were running, and they were too shaky for one to identify the people in it. It was only in one of the photos where Naomi's profile could clearly be seen, and that was when she was in the bar with Thomas, though Thomas wasn't caught in the picture. _Seriously, you call those photos evidence?_ Honestly, the reporters could have saved the trouble of chasing after them and just taken a couple of blurred shots of some random people's backs and published them instead. It wouldn't have made a difference.

Strictly speaking, Naomi should have already grown used to these side-effects of fame after being in the industry for three years now, but she'd thought she might never be able to get used to it, ever.

Sure, it's nice to be appreciated and acknowledged by lots of people for your talent; it's lovely to have fans liking your music so much they'd learn the lyrics to the songs you'd composed and sing along to them in your concerts; it's definitely great to receive international recognition for your work that happened also to be your passion, but all the unwelcomed media attention and relentless probing into Naomi's private life had threatened once and again to suffocate her.

Fact was, all her life she had led an inconspicuous presence, being mostly ignored by people around her and left to her own devices. She knew the names kids back in high school were calling her behind her back; weird, strange, loner, loony. But strangely she was never bothered by these labels. To her, those kids were always insecure of themselves and distrustful of anyone who's different than they were. Friendships with these people who didn't understand her at all would be a pain in the ass and frankly she'd rather not have any friends than to change herself to be accepted by others.

Naomi could still clearly remember her first taste of fame. The time she stepped on stage in front of the 4000-strong crowd during the band's first stop of their world concert tour in New York. She felt like she was on the top of the world when they started playing their first number once the stage lights came on, the screams and cheers from the audience instantly escalating into a wild frenzy. That was one sweet memory that Naomi would remember for the rest of her life.

But as their band rose further in fame, the first scandals also started appearing on the papers - mostly untrue rumors of love affairs between Naomi and male celebrities the band had either got to know at work or at celebrity parties.

Once a tabloid article had even called Naomi an "incorrigible slut" because she was "using her seductive charms on Harry Willis at one time and blatantly flirting with Liam Jackson at another" at one such party. The reporter obviously had a crush on Harry Willis and/or Liam Jackson. Naomi's anger nearly spun out of control when the band's publicity agent confronted her.

"Are you freaking kidding me? I was only trying to meet new people and chat with them like you'd told us to!" Naomi reasoned in an exasperated tone, trying her very best to keep her voice down.

"Well, try to do that AND not look like a slut at the same time," replied their publicity agent unsympathetically.

Naomi paused for a moment and glared at him.

"Fuck _you_," she snapped as she stomped out of the office.

It was from then on that Naomi realised it wasn't easy at all to survive in this industry and that all that glitz and glamour came at a really high price. Her personal privacy was constantly intruded; she had to watch her words and actions all the time in case reporters happened to be around and interpret those actions in her disfavor; she couldn't hang out in peace with her friends or family because the paparazzi were _always _lurking around somewhere out there, listening in the conversations for anything that would make the cut for a juicy scandal.

It hit her one day that she had lost her freedom in this crazy world of fame.

Naomi thought the time she had spent with Emily in Bangkok, albeit short, was the first time in a long time that she felt really free. Standing in the rain and feeling those pellets of water gently landing on her face made her feel as though life had become simple yet again. It had felt really good to know that nobody was watching her from behind; that at that moment in time she was not Naomi Campbell, frontman of Ace of Wands – but just Naomi Campbell, _herself._

That feeling made her feel young and playful all of a sudden, and the serious no-nonsense look that Emily constantly wore had made it even more tempting for Naomi to try and lure the redhead out of her solemn shell. Naomi was in glee when she succeeded in making Emily chase after her in the rain in the end, though to her surprise Emily turned out to be more mischievous than she'd imagined. No doubt being with Emily made Naomi really happy that night and it had been ages since she smiled like she did.

Naomi bit her lip as she grinned at the memory of her hearing Emily's distinctive husky voice doing the in-flight announcement in the airplane. That was utterly unexpected - the last thing on earth she would have guessed would be that Emily Fitch was a pilot. _That petite figure and those adorable features? Honestly, she's far too cute to be one. _But all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place then. Naomi finally understood why Emily had managed to stay ridiculously calm when they were stuck at the floating market with the three men hot on their heels. Compared to all those emergencies and crises they have to deal with in the cockpit, that must have been nothing to Emily.

Naomi was all smiles as her mind drifted to the day she went up to Emily at the airport after landing in Bristol. She used to sincerely believe that it was physically impossible for one to look adorable and gorgeous at the same time - that was until she saw 1st Officer Emily Fitch in her pilot uniform. Naomi's heart literally did a flip-flop as she walked over to Emily at the arrival hall, her eyes relishing it all: the redhead dressed smartly in her fitting dark blue blazer lined with silver buttons and pilot's badge, long dark blue pants and black loafers with her pilot's cap tucked between her waist and left arm. It was all a little too much to take.

If Naomi had thought that Emily and that thoughtful expression of hers she always wore were sexy enough to reduce her to a pile on the floor usually, then Emily with that expression _and_ in her pilot uniform could have vaporized her in an instant. It took all that she had, and I really mean all, to restrain herself from pushing Emily up against the wall and kiss her senseless right there and then. It was a good thing she had those shades on when she was walking over really, those eyes would have given her not-so-honorable thoughts away.

Naomi sighed as she laid her head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling, her feet hanging off the edge of her bed. It had been a week since she last saw Emily and she swore her heart ached a little from missing her. She had written "call me" together with her number on the back of the concert tickets she'd given Emily, and the whole of this week she had been constantly checking her phone waiting for a message or a call from the redhead, but neither came. One week and no news at all from Emily. That was enough to let loose all those thoughts in her head that would drive herself nuts.

Did she write her own number correctly? Maybe she missed out a digit in the number. Fuck, that was highly probable given that it's her.

But no, she remembered checking five times to make sure she hadn't given the wrong number.

Maybe Emily just didn't think of looking at the back of the ticket. Or maybe she had to fly somewhere during the week. Maybe she's busy with some personal matters.

God, she hoped Emily wasn't scared off by what she did at the airport. She knew it. She knew that the kiss was a bad idea, which is why she pulled away at the last minute.

To be honest, her mind wasn't functioning at that time! That damned pilot uniform on Emily had gone and taken all logic in her head and flung them out of the window.

Which reminded her; what kind of a dumb comment is "this uniform suits you"? That was so cringe-worthily awkward and lame. Damnit, Campbell, why did she have to go and say that?

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Why! Why did she say it! And why didn't she think to ask for Emily's number? Gosh, she's so fucking stupid. Now it makes perfect sense that she didn't go to college.

…

_God, Emily Fitch, would you just call me already._

Naomi squeezed her eyes shut in agony as she lay on the bed. She was kind of angry at Emily for doing this to her, even though she knew that her anger was baseless, even more so ridiculous.

Who did she think she was to Emily anyway? It's not as if the redhead owed her a call or an explanation. It's not like Emily's her girlfriend.

…

_Fuck. What did I just think?_

…

_Oh my god oh my god oh my god no. _

_I'm not in love with Emily Fitch. _

_I'm not. I'M NOT!_

_Damn it I'm STRAIGHT. I'M FUCKING STRAIGHT. _

…

_I LOVE COCKS. I adore them. Pussies, no no - not for me. _

_Right. _

…

Then what was this thing with wanting to push Emily up against a wall and kiss her senseless? Her cheeks set aflame whenever Emily looked at her? Her stupid crazily pounding heart the first time they kissed? And the fluttering in her stomach each time Emily said her name in that deep, husky, & fucking sexy voice of hers?

This was insane. No one else had ever made her feel that way before.

Naomi rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, muffled screams filling the air in the room as she pummeled the bed with her fists and legs.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

After a good long twenty seconds, she finally stopped screaming and lifted her head up from the pillow, her hair in a slight mess as she tried to catch her breath.

_Fine, let's just say I'm not gay. I just have a little crush on Emily Fitch right now. Okay, a huge one. Maybe like a major whoppingly huge gigantic one that even the ants crawling by on my bedroom floor would notice. _

…_Okay, I think I might be _a little_ gay. Just a little._

_Or maybe just Emily-gay._

…

_Does she like me too?_

Naomi couldn't help thinking that there was _a _possibility that her feelings for Emily were actually mutual. She'd seen the way Emily looked and smiled at her. She'd heard the way the redhead's breath hitched when she leaned in for a kiss at the airport. Her heart had leaped in joy when she saw how Emily's eyes lit up when they spotted her.

She had the feeling that Emily felt the same way too.

Or she could be imagining it.

_Fuck, this is going nowhere._

Naomi jumped out of bed as her mobile rang, rudely jerking her out of her daydream. She glanced briefly at the name flashing on the screen before answering it. _Not_ Emily.

"Hey, Seth," answered Naomi, disappointment apparent in her voice.

"Hey, Naoms. How's it going?" asked a low male voice at the other end of the line.

"Well, not too great, actually," Naomi replied, pouting as images of Emily floated around in her mind.

"Someone's been reading the tabloids huh," said the voice, knowing and concerned.

"You've seen it too?" asked Naomi as she raised her brows in surprise as she glanced at the newspapers that were crumpled into a mess on the other end of her bedroom.

"Nope, Dan told me. His sister follows the tabloids and all," the voice said.

"Seth, I didn't…" began Naomi.

"No worries, Naoms. I know you didn't," the voice said reassuringly. "Those bastards write the most fucked-up shit there is. Someday I'm gonna jab my tuning pegs into their balls at the first chance I have," replied the voice in a straight tone.

Naomi giggled at the image that sprang up in her head: Seth whacking his bass guitar into the crotches of the paparazzi reporters, all the while still managing to play his solo.

"Glad to hear that you're still laughing," the voice said.

"Don't worry about me, Seth, I'm in top form today," said Naomi as she lay back onto her bed, smiling as she held the phone to her ear with one hand and made random shapes with her fingers on the other hand outstretched above her.

"Sounds like some people are gonna rock the house tonight," replied the voice, the caller apparently smiling. Naomi heard the sound of guitars tuning penetrating the air on the other end of the line.

"Hey listen," said the voice suddenly. I gotta go help Dan and Erik with one of the parts we couldn't get right the last time. Sound check's at 6; we'll come by to pick you at, say, 5:30? Try not to be late and spend too much time dolling up yeah."

"That, you've got to tell Effy," said Naomi with a laugh.

The voice groaned. "Damn, you're right. I'll call her later. Oh, and remember the honey. Bye."

"Thanks, Seth. Later," said Naomi, exhaling deeply as she placed the phone beside her on the bed.

It had been five years now, but Naomi thought Seth had never once failed to call each of the members up every time before they had a major performance just to check up on them and see if they were doing okay. Dan had often laughed at Seth for behaving like their nanny, but Naomi was secretly grateful for the band leader's simple gesture. Fact was, even after having performed on stage for more than hundreds of times now, she still felt the jitters before every one of their shows, and she knew the rest of the band members still did as well, even Seth himself, though they never showed it. For some reason, Seth's routine calls and the casual words of concern delivered in his steady, calm voice always soothed her greatly.

The shrill sound of Naomi's mobile ringtone roused her from her thoughts and her right hand fumbled blindly beside her on the bed to pick it up.

"Hello", said Naomi, without looking at the caller's name.

"Naomi darling, it's me," said a chirpy female voice over on the other end.

"Hey, mom. What's up?" Naomi said with a smile as she recognised the voice.

"I just wanted to say have a great concert tonight and I love you," the voice replied in a warm tone.

"Thanks mom. That was random. But I love you too," Naomi replied with a grin on her face.

"Oh, and since I couldn't go tonight, I gave the tickets you gave me to your dad. But he had called to say that he didn't feel well today and won't be…"

"Mom," Naomi interrupted with a voice suddenly turned icy. "I don't care whether he goes or not. It doesn't matter to me. To me, he's already dead."

"But Naoms, …" continued the voice.

"I'll talk to ya tonight. I've gotta go," Naomi lied. She was afraid that she would lose her temper if the conversation continued any further.

Naomi pressed the little red button on her phone and flung it on her bed as she exhaled deeply. Just as the phone hit the bed, an SMS alert sounded. She hesitated for a while before leaning over the bed to reach for the phone.

**Wild lesbian escapade in an unknown land huh, Naomi baby? Never saw that coming, I'd say, seeing how much you loved my cock back then when we were fucking each other day and night. Those were good times. How about a little threesome with your redhead lover tonight? xoxo McDowell**

Naomi cursed. It's been a while since she last heard from that jerk, and she honestly thought she had worn out his interest and had finally got him off her back after several months, but no. Apparently he was still keeping track of Naomi's news in the papers. Naomi winced and rubbed her temples as a headache crept into her head.

_Seriously, what the fuck was she thinking when she dated him last time?_

* * *

Emily Fitch stood outside the florist, fidgeting nervously as she glanced inside the shop every once in a while. Finally, after several times of walking to the door and then turning away at the last minute, she pushed the door open and walked in.

…

_N: Well, to be honest, Valentine's Day isn't a big deal to me at all. What matters more are the little things that you do for each other every day. Though I wouldn't complain if I were to receive a box of chocolates on Valentine's – I mean, who would? (laughs)_

_I: What about roses then?_

_N: Nah, I'm not really the roses kind of girl._

_I: Really? I'd thought every girl in this world would go weak in their knees over a bouquet of roses._

_N: Well, not _me_… I'm more of a "one-stalk daisy" kind of person._

_I: One-stalk daisy? Now that's new. Why daisies? And why just one stalk?_

_N: Frankly, I'm not sure either. (laughs). I guess I just like how daisies are simple and unassuming and all. And I've always thought every flower, like every person, is unique and beautiful. If you're gonna put them all in a bouquet it will spoil the uniqueness they have and it's such a waste. Plus I think if you have something good and beautiful, having one of it will suffice._

_I: And that applies to lovers too. _

_N: (laughs) Yeah, that's right._

* * *

Naomi walked out from behind the backstage curtain onto the stage that was pitch dark, marching towards the spot that she had memorised for so many previous performances. Downstage the audience was plunged in darkness as well, and the chatter and noise of the crowd was filling up the entire hall. Naomi spotted numerous glow sticks that were of different colors, and saw that some fans had made a board with the glow-in-the-dark words, NA-O-MI-GOD, and another board somewhere at the back with the words, "ACE OF WANDS, KING OF BANDS".

Upstage the sounds of Seth and Effy tuning their guitars could be heard from beside her; Erik adjusted the volume on the keyboards, while Dan tested out the kick on the bass drum behind. After a while, there was complete silence. Naomi gripped the microphone from the stand and exhaled deeply. That was the signal from the rest of the band that they were ready.

Naomi tapped on the microphone to see if it was working.

"How you doin'," said Naomi in a deliberately low, sexy, gruffy voice addressing the audience, laughing adorably into the microphone after she did so.

The crowds downstage instantaneously burst into an uproar at the voice of their idol despite it being still dark on stage. The _Friends _reference was seemingly resonating well with the audience as cheers, screaming, wolf-whistling threatened to drown up Naomi's voice.

"It's great to be home, it really is," continued Naomi in her normal voice, as the cheering from the crowds became louder.

"The first song we're going to play is the very first song our band played together after being formed, and it means a lot to us to be playing it in the town our band was born," said Naomi sincerely with a smile.

"This one goes out to all you fans out there."

The distinctive rhythm of the bass guitar that started to play evoked a wild frenzy amongst the audience who immediately recognised the song. Even though it was totally dark, Naomi thought she could sense Effy, Dan, Erik and Seth all smiling as the different instrumental parts joined the bass guitar. It was as if they were all thinking of the same scene when they played it together for the first time.

Naomi held the microphone close to her mouth as she bobbed her head gently along to the music. The spotlights came on a split second before she started singing the first words of the song that she knew so well.

* * *

During the break, Naomi walked inside the changing room, biting her lip to stop the grin from escaping her face.

She saw her. Standing in the left side of the crowd next to Freddie; wearing a simple black dress that looked absolutely gorgeous on her. And in her hand – Naomi couldn't be sure – _was that a daisy?_

_God, she read that interview in that _Starry Week_ magazine._

Naomi couldn't help feeling excited at the revelation that Emily had tried to find out more about her via the magazines. Now she was almost sure that Emily liked her too.

"Naomi," a voice cut into Naomi's thoughts abruptly, and she turned to see her manager walking towards her.

"We've got three surprise guest stars later in the concert. You know, like a gimmick kinda thing. You gotta introduce them to the audience when they come on stage," he said.

"What? But who are the guests? And why weren't we informed of this arrangement earlier?" questioned Naomi with a frown.

"I just said they were surprise guests. You don't have to know who they are now. Just say their names when they appear on stage. They are all famous people. And yes, this was a last minute decision made by the company, so we didn't have time to inform you," said the manager stoicly.

"But…" Naomi started.

"Just do it, Campbell," the manager remarked sharply as he turned to walk away.

Naomi furrowed her brows as she watched the manager slip away into the backstage.

She'd never liked surprises. _  
_

* * *

Naomi took the microphone from the stand as she smiled to an audience who was roaring "encore!" repeatedly now.

"Well, we do have a little present for you tonight," said Naomi in a cheeky tone. "I've just been informed that there are THREE mystery guest stars in the house right now," she continued, to which the audience responded warmly with cheers.

"The first guest who would like to say hello to all our fans is," said Naomi as she glanced to the curtain to the backstage where her manager was standing. A purple-haired girl in a gothic dress-up appeared from behind the curtain and swaggered to where Naomi was, waving to an audience that was cheering loudly for her.

"Our very young and talented Cristina Ambers!" announced Naomi as she recognised her as the teenage girl who was the rising star of the gothic rock band Slashbacks.

The girl waved to the audience and did a world peace handsign before walking over to Seth to talk to him.

"The next guest we have, is…" said Naomi as Dan deliberately did a drum-roll behind her that made some in the audience giggle.

"Deejay Whacko!" Naomi announced in a dramatic fashion as a dark-skinned plump guy in a sport jersey and baggy pants lumbered from behind the curtain.

"Yo whassup," said Deejay Whacko as the crowd cheered for him.

"And the last but not least, our third mystery guest is…" Naomi said as her head was turned towards the backstage, waiting for the guest to show himself.

The crowd was in ecstasy as soon as he appeared. He was dressed smart and casual in a blazer with denim jeans, smiling charmingly as he sauntered confidently up to the front of the stage, opening his arms wide as if to embrace the crowd and to say, "that's right, I'm here."

Naomi was gaping and still in a state of shock as he gently took the microphone from her hands.

"Oh dear," he said into the microphone jokingly, "Our lovely lady here is so stunned by my presence she didn't even introduce me." The audience roared in laughter.

"Good evening, everybody," he said as he turned back to address the audience who were still going wild at his feet.

"I'm Tom McDowell and I'm honored to be here tonight at an Ace of Wands gig," he said with a smirk.

* * *

"What the fuck do you think you are doing here?" Naomi yelled angrily behind the curtains as she glared angrily at the guy standing in front of her.

"Chill, man. What's the big deal? This is business," replied the guy coolly.

"Don't give me that, Tom. I know you and I know it's not that simple. What is it that you want from me?" Naomi's voice was trembling with anger.

"What is it that you can give me?" asked Tom with a smirk as he leaned in closer towards Naomi.

"Fuck you, Tom," cursed Naomi as she tried to push him away, but his hands had grabbed her tightly at the sides.

"One kiss," said Tom as he stared into Naomi's blue eyes mixed with rage and indignation.

"What?" Naomi asked, her eyes confused at the request.

"Please, Naomi. I'm only doing all these stupid stuffs because I've missed you so much for the past few months. Do it for me. Take it as a goodbye kiss. You will never hear from me again," said Tom, his voice sorrowful and dejected all of a sudden.

Naomi's eyes softened a little at Tom's emotional confession. She didn't know that Tom did what he did because he still loved her. She hesitated a little looking at the forlorn guy in front of her.

Just as she was mulling over whether to lean in and peck Tom on the cheek, she felt hands suddenly cupping her cheeks as rough, chapped lips were violently pressed onto her own and a tongue sought entry into her mouth.

Naomi stood stunned for a moment and tried in vain to push the aggressor away, who was much too strong for her.

"OW!" he yelled suddenly as Naomi bit his lip in fury and pulled away.

"Someone likes playing it rough, huh," McDowell's wince turned into a smirk as he eyed Naomi suggestively.

"You fucking liar," shouted Naomi as she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her top.

"Oh come on, Naomi. I love you too much to say goodbye. And I know you feel the same too from the way you kissed me just now," McDowell taunted further.

"I'm done with you. Go fuck yourself," cried Naomi as she turned to walk away, but McDowell had grabbed her arm with his hand.

"Nuh-uh. Not yet, Naomi baby. Your secret is still safe with me, don't you forget," said McDowell as he let go of Naomi's arm again and laughed loudly to himself as she stomped off.

As she strode off, Naomi glanced around the backstage area and was thankful to see that no one else was there to overhear the conversation between her and Tom McDowell.

Somewhere nearby in the darkness of the backstage hallway, however, a stalk of daisy lay on the floor, broken in two.


	5. Bonus Chapter I

note: this is part I of a bonus chapter that gives a little insight on how ace of wands was set up as a band. it's nothing to do with the naomily storyline but it does give you a better understanding of naomi's personality and childhood. you could skip reading it if you want, i just wrote it because i wanted to. (: but if you read it and like it you could drop me a message to tell me i'll be very glad. :p

* * *

_8 years ago_

Naomi Campbell walked down the corridor of old classrooms, fidgeting nervously as she held her guitar case closer to her for comfort. She wasn't sure if this was such a good idea after all. All this while she had only played music within the walls of her bedroom in her own little solitary world, with herself and for herself – with the occasional exception of Thomas and a very reluctant mom as her only audience.

And now, she was going to put herself out there to let some stranger judge her and her _music_? What if they hated her? What if they told her that she was absolutely atrocious at the guitar and had wasted the past 10 years of life playing the shit she called music?

She wasn't sure she was ready for that yet.

"Fuck this shit, I'm going home," Naomi muttered under her breath as she turned to walk in the other direction. Just then, the door of one of the classrooms not far ahead opened and out stepped a girl with brown curly hair, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that was too large for her pale, freckled face. Naomi noticed her eyes were red as the girl walked towards where she stood. She had been crying.

"Good luck," choked out the girl in between hiccups as she spotted Naomi staring at her. "They are a bunch of assholes," she added with a sob before bursting into tears again and disappearing around the corner.

Naomi stood there not knowing what to think. _Assholes huh._ She'd seen tons of them in this school. Those idiots who would stick out their feet to trip her whenever she walked past and then disappear into the crowd before she had a chance to look at their faces; puncture her bicycle tires every now and then; whisper in low voices and laughed maniacally loud when they saw her. Yeah, Naomi had her fair share of encounters with those assholes.

For some reason, however, these bastards had never openly confronted Naomi before. Whatever they did, it was discretely done and done behind her back. It was as if they were afraid of what (loony things) Naomi might do to them if they'd challenged her directly.

Naomi scoffed. _Cowards. _

And now, these jerks turn out to be the ones holding the music auditions? Naomi wondered what their reactions would be like when the loony girl they were so afraid of had walked in for a tryout. That would be one hell of an interesting show to watch.

Naomi smirked as she marched resolutely towards the door.

* * *

"Ever thought of getting out of that room of yours and playing in a proper band?" Thomas asked one morning when he was over for breakfast.

Naomi froze for a moment bending over the table and holding the carton of milk in her hand. Her eyes darted questioningly at Thomas, who was busy munching on breakfast cereal next to her.

"That's random," said Naomi as she poured the milk into the bowl, thinking of an appropriate response to answer Thomas' question.

"I mean," continued Thomas as he looked up from his bowl, his mouth still full with cereal. "You are good at the guitar, you know. It's time that someone else gets to hear you too, besides me and your mom."

"And Nietzsche and Voltaire," added Naomi quickly.

"And Nietzsche and Voltaire," Thomas corrected himself. "Well, that's what I'm saying. You gotta expand your audience beyond us – however honored I might to be one of the privileged four."

"Nah, I don't think the world is ready for my musical genius yet," replied Naomi in a serious and matter-of-fact tone as she nodded solemnly and munched on a piece of bread, trying to keep a straight face.

"I'm being serious over here," Thomas said, seemingly unamused.

"I am being serious here as well!" said Naomi. "I mean, there's no point. It just gives those stupid kids at school more reason to throw rotten tomatoes."

"Give it up, Thomas," said Gina as she walked out of the kitchen with a plate of fried bacons in her hand. "Always coming up with excuses. Just like her dad."

Thomas chuckled with a look of amusement as he glanced at Naomi.

"I am so NOT like him," muttered Naomi with a sulk on her face.

"Just let her hide in that comfortable cocoon of hers forever," said Gina to Thomas, ignoring Naomi's comment. "She's too scared to hear from others that her music isn't as good as she thinks because she has no confidence at all," Gina continued as she placed the bacons on the table and removed the apron she was wearing.

"I'm NOT scared!" cried Naomi defensively.

"I think you are," said Gina quietly.

"My music _is_ good. I know it," continued Naomi, shifting uncomfortably in her chair now.

"Are you sure?" asked Thomas with a questioning look on his face as he turned and eyed Naomi closely.

Naomi turned to Thomas and gave him a death glare.

"Damn right I am!" Naomi yelled as she leapt out of the chair suddenly. She marched towards the sofa and grabbed her school bag.

"I'll show you! I'll join a stupid band by the end of the week, if that's what you think I can't do!" she barked in anger across the hall.

"If not you will…?" taunted Thomas.

"I'll… I'll…be a pussycat with no balls!" yelled Naomi as she slammed open the door and stomped out, frowning briefly at what a bizarre comeback she had come up with on the spur of the moment. O heck, she was too angry to care. Outside, Nietzsche and Voltaire were barking loudly and leaping excitedly at the sight of their master and waiting for their routine morning cuddle, but Naomi just strode past them today.

Thomas grinned at Naomi's reaction as he hurried to grab his bag and ran after her, but not before turning back to Gina to wink at her, who just nodded quietly with a smile.

"Pussycats have no balls by default, Naoms!" came the echoes of Thomas shouting and laughing as he ran to catch up with Naomi.

* * *

"Fuck, it's that fucking lunatic who sings to herself in the hallways all the time," was the first thing Naomi heard as she walked into the classroom. She pretended not to hear the comment or notice the look of disdain that was obvious on the face of the boy who had apparently blurted it out, deliberately or not. Naomi saw from the corner of her eye that the boy had blonde hair, bright blue eyes and an upturned nose, the corner of his lips curled in a perpetual smirk.

"I'm Naomi Campbell," said Naomi as she stood in the middle of the classroom and turned to look at the four faces staring back at her from behind a row of classroom tables joined at the sides.

"We know, you're _famous_," the blonde boy sneered in a low voice as he smirked. Naomi rolled her eyes internally. _Definitely asshole._

"Dan," said another boy sitting in the middle with a tinge of warning in his voice, as he turned to glare at the boy apparently called Dan. This other boy had very dark hair that was almost black, soft brown eyes behind black-rimmed glasses and a quiet smile. He carried a steady presence about him and looked more mature than the rest of them. Naomi liked him at once.

"Hey, Naomi. I'm Seth," said the boy as he turned to Naomi with a friendly smile. "This is Erik, Dan, Jake," the boy named Seth introduced his band mates as he gestured with his thumb to each of them.

"Hi there, I'm Erik," said another blonde boy sitting in the middle with a bright and cheery tone. The first thing Naomi noticed was his seemingly laughing eyes that became slits when he smiled widely. _Holy crap he looks exactly like the Dan boy. With the same look of mischief in his blue eyes. Only friendlier and cuter. _

"And this one here, is my brother, Dan. We're twins," added Erik with a grin when he noticed Naomi's astonished look from seeing double, as he wrapped his arm around Dan, who was sulking and rolling his eyes and still refusing to look at Naomi in the face.

"Cut the fucking crap and get it on," said the boy sitting on the far right who hadn't spoken till then, with a look of impatience crossed with annoyance on his face. He had jet black hair with a long fringe that hung across his forehead in a careless manner. Although his hair had concealed his left eye partially, his eyes still managed to pierce when they stared into Naomi's eyes, giving her a slight shudder. Dan, Seth, Erik… _This must be Jake. _

"Hurry the fuck up and just play whatever shit you think you can play," said Jake curtly as he looked at Naomi with a let's-get-this-over-and-done-with expression on his face. He was sitting with one ankle crossed on top of his other knee and his right elbow rested on his chair behind him.

Naomi suddenly realised why the girl had said they were assholes.

* * *

"I'm not scared!"

"I think you are."

Naomi frowned in annoyance as she thought back on the incident that happened on Monday morning. Urgh, she knew her mom and Thomas were deliberately taunting her, yet she still fell into their trap willingly. _All because of her and her stupid ego and pride!_

Naomi sighed deeply as she leaned against the wall outside the toilets. It was already Thursday today and she was nowhere close to being near a band, let alone being _in_ one. Thomas was so gonna laugh at her and call her ball-less pussycat or something for at least a week or two now, and there was nothing she could do about it. _Well done, Campbell. You and your rash behavior had gone and did it again. A round of applause for yourself, please. _

"Watch it, Campbell!" A gruff voice broke into her thoughts suddenly as a tall blonde boy deliberately knocked into her with his elbow, making Naomi bump into the flimsy makeshift notice board on the wall. The boy turned back and smirked at her as he mouthed a sarcastic, "Sorry". Naomi rolled her eyes and bent over to pick up the whole lot of notices that had fallen onto the floor due to the collision.

Just when she was picking them up, her eyes were drawn to one of the notices lying in the pile of mess.

"**THE INCLINING BACKYARDS" **

**E. GUITARIST & MALE VOCALIST WANTED **

**AUDITIONS: 15****TH**** JULY, 14:00 (CLASSROOM E4)**

Naomi arched her eyebrow in surprise. _Wow, this is freaky_. Naomi glanced furtively around to see if she could spot any angels' wings flying away just in time, but she didn't. As she stood up and pinned the notice back on the notice board, a hand tapped her shoulder from behind.

"What's the matter?" said Thomas, who had just got out of the gents.

"Nothing," replied Naomi. "Some asshole bumped into me deliberately and I knocked over all the notices," she said as she gestured to the pile of papers on her hand.

"Those bastards," remarked Thomas angrily. "Are you hurt?" he said as he turned to Naomi with a concerned look.

Naomi laughed. Thomas was always so protective of her like an older brother. "It's just a bump, Thomas. I'm fine," she said with a smile as she tucked her arm into his.

"Let's go," beamed Naomi as they walked off along the hallway.

* * *

Naomi plugged the wire into the amplifier that was standing on the side of the classroom, before standing uncertainly in front of the four boys with her electric guitar hanging in front of her.

"What are you playing?" asked Seth.

"Sweet Child O' Mine," said Naomi as she swallowed. _Damn, she was feeling jitters all of a sudden. _

Jake scoffed and turned away. Dan laughed in jest. But Seth only nodded as he said in a kind voice, "Whenever you are ready."

Naomi exhaled deeply and plucked the first notes of the guitar intro with her trembling fingers but they came out wrong. _Shit. _She plucked them again. Again, the notes didn't flow and her guitar sounded constipated. _Damn it she was too nervous. _

"Is this some kind of joke to you or something?" said Jake unsympathetically as he eyed Naomi impatiently. "Fucking play it right or just get out and stop wasting our time."

"Jake, give the girl some time, will you? She's just nervous," reasoned Seth.

"No, she isn't. She's just too fucking stupid to choose a song too difficult for her for a guitar audition, that's what she is," snapped Jake.

Naomi gripped the neck of her guitar tightly; a rush of blood raging to her head was making her face feel really hot as the flames of fury surged through her veins.

_Never ever let someone else tell you what you can or cannot do._

Naomi closed her eyes as her mind flashed back to the time she was sitting downstage looking up at him. He was playing the guitar solo beautifully and the crowds below were going wild for him. Her little heart was so proud of him as she sat there, her tiny hands clapping in enthusiasm and her eyes shining with adoration for the man up there. It was the first time she had heard of that song, but she had already fallen in love with it. Sweet Child O' Mine; that was the name of that beautiful song. She knew from that moment that someday she _had _to able to play that song on the guitar too.

She knew she would.

Naomi's eyes were still closed as her fingers slid down the frets that were so familiar to her touch. As her fingers danced across the strings, the first notes of the guitar intro sounded on the amplifier the way she had played them in her head.

In an instant, Jake's initial expression of contempt had turned into a blank look as he watched Naomi. Seth was smiling and nodding in approval; Erik's eyebrows had arched and his blue eyes had widened in amazement; even Dan turned and looked at Naomi for the first time. The look of surprise on his face was evident.

When it came to the guitar solo, Naomi let go of herself completely. She wasn't even aware of the presence of the boys anymore. It was as if she was alone in her room with the four walls, where only she and the music existed.

It was only after she finished playing the last note and opened her eyes, when she realised that four pair of eyes were staring back at her with a most undecipherable expression. _What the hell are those looks supposed to mean? _She cocked an eyebrow at them.

It was Seth who stood up and clapped first. Then Erik followed suit. Dan, despite his initial dislike for Naomi, had to admit that she had played really well and had reluctantly clapped while looking the other way.

"Naomi, I think it's clear that you should join-" began Seth as he extended his hand out to Naomi.

"Not yet," cut in Jake with an icy voice. "Not before you pass _me_ first."

Naomi watched in mild confusion as Jake stood up and went to the back of the room. He took out an electric guitar from a case before walking to the front and plugging it into one of the amplifiers.

_So _he'_s the lead guitarist. That explains a lot about the hostility towards her. _

Jake tuned his guitar a little before turning to Naomi.

"You," he said as he pointed at Naomi with a guitar pick held between his fingers. "Play whatever I play."

Jake began with a set of rhythms that consisted of sixteenths and triplets. Seth dropped his jaw.

"Isn't that a little too difficult…" he mumbled.

"Shut up," said Jake without even turning to Seth. "You play," he said as he cocked his head towards Naomi.

Naomi stared at the guy in front of her. He was obviously jealous that she had managed to play the song he deemed too difficult for her and was now attempting to embarrass her.

"Well?" he asked, arching his eyebrow at her.

Naomi bit the insides of her cheek as she glared at him. She lifted her guitar and closed her eyes as her mind went back to the rhythm he played. _Yup, that's how it went. _

Naomi smirked as she watched Jake's face change from its initial smug expression to a look of horror as she played the exact same rhythm he had played before. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Erik grinning from ear to ear now, his laughing eyes in slits.

"Again," said Jake, as he played another set of rhythms on the guitar, this time faster and more complicated.

Naomi replayed the rhythm again, without a single glitch and complete with the right dynamics and accents.

"Woohoo! Damn it Naomi, you're fucking awesome!" yelled out Erik who was cheering from the side now. Seth was looking a little worried as he watched Jake's face slowly turn pale with anger.

"Since you're so fucking awesome, why don't you play this," said Jake slowly in a voice dripping with sarcasm as he took out a guitar score from his bag and tossed it on the table in front of Naomi.

* * *

"Daddy, daddy!" yelled the little girl as she ran towards her dad and flung her little arms around his neck.

"My baby girl," cried the dad as he lifted her off her feet and kissed her on the forehead.

"Where did you go? I've missed you," said the little girl as she looked down sadly and pouted, her little fingers playing with the collar of her daddy's polo t-shirt.

"I'm sorry I missed my baby's birthday," said the man as he bounced the little girl gently in his arms.

"I'm sorry you missed it too," said the little girl quietly.

"Are you angry with Daddy?" he asked.

"Mm-mm," the girl said, shaking her head quickly.

"Well, Daddy has something to make it up to you," he said with a smile, pinching her lightly on the cheek.

"Really? I've got a present?" asked the little girl, her bright blue eyes widening in surprise and excitement.

"Wait here, I'll show you," he said as he put her down on the floor and went out to the garage.

Minutes later, the man came back with a cobalt blue electric guitar in his hand that was only slightly taller than the girl herself.

"Wow!" cried the girl as she ran over at once to examine the brand new guitar, her little fingers going over the body of the guitar and the metal strings gently, as if she was afraid that any rough movement would break them.

"It's yours," said the man with a wide grin as he bent down and watched the little girl study her new toy in awe.

"Thanks daddy! You are the best daddy in the world!" she screamed happily as she threw abruptly herself into his open arms, making him laugh heartily as he caressed her small head on his shoulder.

* * *

He sat on the boot of the car with his guitar perched across his lap. She was sitting on a small stool on the grass, trying hard to balance the guitar that was too big for her size on her tiny lap. In the end, she gave up and placed part of the body of the guitar on the grass beside her.

"Are you ready for your first guitar lesson?" he directed the question to his one and only student in the class.

"YES!" came the very enthusiastic response followed by some erratic strumming of the guitar.

"OK, you've got to stop that, I can't hear myself. Now… Have you played the game 'Simon Says' in school?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Well, we're gonna play a game now, and it's rather similar to Simon Says. You with me?"

"Yes!"

"In Simon Says, you have to imitate whatever actions that Simon says to do. In this game, what happens is I'm going to pluck a few notes on my guitar. And in order to win, all you have to do is to imitate my actions and pluck whatever string I pluck, in exactly the same way I pluck it. Any questions?"

The girl's hand shot up immediately.

"Yes?"

"What is a note?" asked the girl, scratching her head a little.

"Well," the man said with a hearty laugh. "The guitar produces a different sound when your right hand plucks the same string and your left hand presses on different frets. These little separations on the guitar are frets. Every different sound represents a different note on the guitar."

The girl still looked a little confused.

"It's okay, I will help you along the way so that you will win the game," said the dad and the frown on the little girl's face was replaced with an adorable smile in an instant.

* * *

_**HEARTBREAKER – LED ZEPPELIN**_

Naomi blinked at the lead guitar score that Jake had thrown on the table.

"What's wrong? Aren't you like fucking awesome? Play it then," taunted Jake further upon seeing that the blood had drained out of her face.

Seth broke in. "Jake, it isn't fair to make her sight-read a score this tough for an audition."

"Nuh-uh. I beg to differ. If you're really good you can play even when seeing a score for the first time. If you suck you can't play it even after practising a million times," said Jake in a matter-of-fact tone, his eyes never leaving Naomi.

Seth and Erik were looking at Naomi expectantly. Even the look of contempt was gone from Dan's face; now he was more curious to see if she was really good enough to be able to sight-read a score as difficult as "Heartbreaker".

Naomi exhaled deeply and stared at the score on the table. For a moment, Erik, Dan and Seth thought she was going to give up and leave, but then she just reached out for the score on the table and the next thing they knew, she had flung it onto the floor. The three of them reckoned she had gone mad.

* * *

She heard the familiar sounds coming from the old amplifier in the garden yet again. He was practising it, that Led Zeppelin song. She had heard it a thousand times now, and could almost memorise the entire guitar solo. After watching him from behind the door for a little while more, she ran upstairs to her room and took her guitar from its case and sat down on her bedroom floor with it. She now stood taller than the guitar, and her fingers fit comfortably around its neck. Squeezing her eyes shut to remember the notes that she had seen her dad play so many times on the guitar, she reproduced them, one by one.

A week later, she was all smiles as she ran to her dad with her guitar, tugging his shirt urgently as he sat on the sofa reading the newspapers.

His eyes were blue with amazement as she finished playing.

"That's my girl!" he cried as he threw her up in the air and caught her, his eyes brimming with tears. "My girl's a genius! My girl's a genius!"

* * *

Naomi opened her eyes and her fingers played it like how they remembered it. It's been so long, and playing it again really hurt because of the memories that came with it.

By now, Erik, Dan and Seth were completely impressed and the three of them stood there staring at Naomi with jaws wide open. Jake, on the other hand, was frowning silently. After a while, there was a look of revelation on his face as he walked away and bent over to pick up the score that Naomi had flung.

"Wait a minute," he said as he walked towards Naomi. "I don't want you to play from the beginning."

"I want you to start here," he added with a smirk as he flipped to a random page in the score and pointed to one of the many notes that were filled across the entire page.

Naomi glared at him as she swallowed hard.

"I can't play it," said Naomi quietly as she took in a deep breath.

"But why not?! You were doing fine a while ago! Fuck's sake, you were doing more than fine! You were fucking awesome," sputtered out Erik in exasperation.

"Yeah, why can't you play it?" asked Seth, who was as bewildered as Erik was.

"Because," said Jake with a smirk as he turned slowly to glance at Naomi.

"Because she can't read notes at all."

* * *

The sound of shouting from below woke Naomi up from her slumber. She groped around for a while in the dark for her glasses and put them on before creeping out of her room in her bedroom slippers.

"…out of the fucking question!"

"Why do you always reject the opinions of others without even considering them? You always so fucking self-centred!"

"I'm fucking self-centred!? I'M FUCKING SELF CENTRED!? WHO'S THE ONE TRYING TO FULFILL HIS OWN FAILED DREAMS THROUGH HIS DAUGHTER AND NOT GIVING A DAMN THAT IT'S GONNA RUIN HER FUTURE?"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME! THIS IS ABOUT HER! …She is really, really good, Gina. Why can't you see that and accept it?"

"Right. Let's take your word for it and say that she's good. But even if she's good, I will NOT allow her to take the path that you've taken! She's my daughter and for as long as I'm alive, I won't let you ruin her."

"You fucking regret it, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You fucking regret marrying me."

"What the fuck are you saying!?"

"In your mind, I'm always a fucking loser, a fucking failed musician… A good-for-nothing… that you'd married by mistake…"

"I'm really sorry, Gina, for being the only mistake you've ever made in your fucking perfect life…"

"FUCK YOU! LEAVE AND DON'T EVER COME BACK TO THIS FUCKING HOUSE. FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU…"

Naomi fought the tears that struggled to escape and crept silently back into her room as the door slammed downstairs and sobs filled the whole house.

Once inside her room, she flung herself onto her bed and cried hard into her pillow. She cried till her tears ran dry and till she was exhausted, before finally falling into a fitful sleep.

Even in her dreams, the tears couldn't stop falling.

* * *

"She what?" Erik blinked in amazement at Jake's words and turned to Naomi in a quick motion. Naomi was silent now and looking at the floor.

"She is fucking musically illiterate," said Jake with a satisfied smirk as he walked back to his seat and assumed the same position as before. The smug look on his face had returned now that his status as lead guitarist was not threatened.

"Musically illit… But wait – how? How?" Erik sputtered out, not grasping the whole situation.

"She's a musician who plays by ear," said Seth quietly as the truth hit him.

"Play by ear? Wow…" said Dan dreamily, whom Naomi thought had a look of admiration on his face now.

"Play by ear?! But all that she had just played? That's one fucking long score. How the hell do you play by ear with that?"

"By listening and memorizing the sounds, and then reproducing it on the guitar based on memory," said Seth. "Still, that's really awesome, Naomi. That you managed to play all that from memory."

"As much as it is awesome, we have no use for guitarists who can't read the bloody score. Too bad, lady," said Jake sarcastically as he glared at Naomi.

Seth looked deep in thought for a moment before turning to Naomi.

"Do you sing?" asked Seth suddenly.

Naomi looked up at him in surprise. Erik, Dan and Jake were all eyeing Seth questioningly as well.

"Well, I…" began Naomi, not knowing how to answer this unexpected question.

"Seth," warned Jake. "We want a vocalist who is a MALE, remember?"

"Correction, Jake. We want a vocalist who can sing rock. Why would it matter whether the vocalist is male or female as long as he or she can pull off a performance well?" argued Seth in his calm voice.

He turned to Naomi with a kindly smile. "So? Would you like to pick a song and perform it for us now?"


	6. Bonus Chapter II

this chapter is dedicated to my band mates who have been the best friends one could ever ask for.

* * *

"So? Would you like to pick a song and perform it for us now?"

A sudden loud clanging noise followed by the sound of the door slamming startled everyone in the room. Jake had kicked a classroom chair to the side and stormed out in rage. Naomi looked at once to Seth, but the latter just wore a stoic look on his face. If the boy was in any way affected by the outburst of his fellow band mate, he did a good job in hiding it.

Naomi bit her lip and frowned slightly as she looked at Seth uncertainly. The boy had an unusual amount of confidence in her for someone who only got to know her less than half hour ago, and it showed in his eyes. Naomi almost felt bad that she was going to disappoint him. The truth was, she couldn't sing for nuts. Her mom had said so before; even Thomas had advised her to focus on playing the guitar whenever she started to sing in the garage.

"I'm sorry," Naomi said finally, her head lowered slightly to avoid Seth's gaze. "But I can't sing. Thank you for giving me a chance anyway," she added as she turned to walk towards the door.

"If you're worrying about the backup, my keyboard's here for you," offered Erik as he hurriedly stood up, alarmed that Naomi was leaving.

"And… and the drums too, if you need them," continued Dan in a low and slightly sheepish voice as he cleared his throat. Naomi arched her brows in surprise at Dan's change in attitude towards her.

"Don't look so surprised. I just don't want our band to miss out on a talent," added Dan quickly upon seeing Naomi's astonished look. Naomi couldn't help smiling at Dan's inadvertent compliment.

"We're all ready to back you up," said Seth with a smile, "Won't you do us the honor now?"

"But I really wasn't lying just now when I said I couldn't sing. My voice's awful. My _singing_'s awful," explained Naomi exasperatedly.

"That's for _us_ to judge," said Seth with a wink as he stood up to get his bass guitar out of its case and walked to one of the amplifiers to plug it in.

Naomi watched helplessly as Erik, and Dan took their respective positions in front of the keyboard and the drums as well.

_She had no choice now, had she?_

Naomi sighed in resignation as she shifted her guitar in position. _This is so going to be the joke of the century. _

"So?" asked Erik with a grin as he turned to Naomi while adjusting the controls on the keyboard.

"Well… The only song I can think off my head right now is High and Dry by Radiohead, but-," began Naomi.

"High and Dry by Radiohead, it is!" Erik cut in abruptly and soon after, Dan came in with his drum intro.

Naomi was caught off guard and almost forgot to play the guitar at the third bar of the song until Erik laughed at her and she realised something was amiss.

* * *

"_Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that's pretty clever don't you boy_

_Flyin' on your motorcycle, watching all the ground beneath you drop"_

The image on the television flickered a little for a few moments then went back to normal. Someone was singing on stage in a makeshift tent, the kind you see being set up at carnivals. Naomi could hear that the people around the camera were cheering and talking loudly. Although the screen was not very clear, Naomi saw that the lady on stage who was singing was a pretty, young lady in her 20s. She wore a polka-dotted dress that was either orange or red, one couldn't really tell because the colors on the screen weren't sharp enough.

"_You'd kill yourself for recognition, kill yourself to never ever stop_

_You broke another mirror, you're turning into something you are not"_

The singer was obviously an amateur singer, but she had a sweet-sounding voice and the audience were clearly enjoying themselves, what with all the wolf-whistling and cheering every now and then.

"_Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry"_

The camera zoomed in on the banner that was hanging at the top of the tent that was splashed with bold red paint, "HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY, EDDIE!"

Naomi's mouth went dry at once.

_Eddie_. _That's what she heard her dad's fans used to call him back when his band was famous. Edmund "Eddie" Campbell. _

This was a video of her dad's 28th birthday celebration. With his band mates and his fans probably.

Naomi's brows arched in surprise as the camera zoomed in on the lady singing. The unmistakable pair of blue eyes, wavy blond hair, features which resemble her own so much.

_Mom. _

"_It's the best thing that you've ever had_

_The best thing that you've ever, ever had"_

Naomi watched quietly as on-screen, her dad had walked slowly up on stage and her mom, still singing, was holding onto the microphone while glancing sideways at her dad, the bliss that was evident in her smile could be detected from a mile away.

"So don't leave me high, don't leave me dry

Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry"

All around the camera the audience were cheering wildly as the song ended and her dad leaned forward and kissed her mom on the lips. "Thank you," he mouthed sincerely at her after they pulled away and the cheers continued.

"Hellooo," said Eddie with a wide grin as he gently took the microphone from Gina.

"Thank you all for this lovely surprise. I've never expected myself to be celebrating my birthday at the age of 28… I'm a little too old for all those party hats and poppers you know. And never in my wildest dreams would I have expected such a huge turnout for my birthday party. And that my lovely and stage-shy girlfriend would be singing to the world and complaining what a rebellious boy I am."

The audience roared with laughter as Eddie turned to Gina with a boyish grin.

"But you know what, even the most rebellious boy on earth is willing to be tamed by the beautiful angel sent to him from heaven," continued Eddie, turning now to face Gina. He got down on one knee, and the audience downstage let out a gasp. Gina was seen cupping her mouth with both hands.

"Gina, my love. All this while, you've kept me grounded when I felt lost; stood by me when I was down and out… Held me when I had no strength to carry on. Thank you for being my angel all this time. I could never imagine a life without you, and I would never want to imagine one without you in it. …Gina dear, would you let me have the honor to love and protect you to the last of my breath?" Eddie said into the microphone as he dished out a ring from his pockets, all the while looking up sincerely at Gina.

"I would never leave you high and dry," he added with a smile.

There was a distinct silence as the audience held their breath awaiting Gina's response to Eddie's proposal. When she finally nodded silently, smiling in tears, the people all around burst out in screams and cheers. The television screen was jerking up and down erratically as the camera appeared to be jumping with the crowd too.

Naomi reached out her hand and stopped the tape immediately. She got the tape out of the player, ran back up to the attic and put it back exactly where she had found in the chest. That chest of things belonging to her dad that her mom had wanted to keep out of sight but had not the heart to throw out after her dad left. That chest of things that was a reminder of her father's betrayal of the family.

"So don't leave me high, don't leave me dry," that sweet singing voice kept coming back to haunt her even as she shut her eyes in vain to sleep that night.

After so many years of learning to hold them back in, the tears somehow found their way back again.

* * *

When Naomi opened her eyes again, she felt something wet on her cheeks. As she wiped it off, she glanced around the classroom and momentarily remembered that she was still at the audition, singing with the accompanying instruments of Seth, Erik and Dan.

_Had she finished singing? She wasn't even sure if she sang at all. _

"God, Naomi!" yelled Erik excitedly as he leapt across the room and gave Naomi a light smack on the back. "That was fucking brilliant! I knew you were screwing with us when you said you couldn't sing!"

Naomi rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Well…"

"You did a great job," said Seth as he walked over to Naomi, smiling widely. "You could improve a lot more on the techniques, but your voice quality and musicality are exactly what we are looking for in a vocalist," he added.

"Yeah, the emotions you put in that song was so… fucking powerful," said Erik as he shook his head slightly in awe.

"Welcome to our band," offered Dan with an awkward smile as he walked over gingerly to join the trio.

"Thanks," said Naomi distractedly, still a little confused and dazed by what just took place.

_OK, I applied to be the guitarist of a rock band because of a dare but I ended up being the vocalist of the said rock band? This is far too complicated…_

"Wait," asked Naomi suddenly. "What about Jake? He doesn't want me here."

"Well," said Seth with a nonchalant shrug. "We've finally found the vocal gem our band's been looking for since forever. If he and that big ego of his can't suck that up, then they are both free to leave our band."

The door slammed open at this moment and in stepped Jake.

"I don't give a fuck about vocalists. You can keep the bitch if you want," said Jake as he grabbed his electric guitar and packed it in his case.

"Mind your words, Jake," warned Seth, his temper obviously rising. Naomi wondered for a moment how the usually calm and collected Seth would look like when he flared up. "You know what? I think you're gonna need her help in future. She might not be able to read notes but her techniques are far better than yours and you kno-."

"Shut the fuck up, Seth. What do you know? You're just a fucking bassist. Don't try to act like the boss over here just because you're the fucking band leader," snapped Jake as he walked out with his guitar and slammed the door behind him.

Naomi thought that anyone else would have gone forward and picked a fight with Jake over his words, but Seth just sat back in his chair and held his cool. Naomi was starting to admire this lad for his patience and self-control.

"Come on, guys, I'm okay," said Seth with a reassuring smile as he caught sight of the worried looks from all around him.

"Besides, we've got no time to lose," he added as he removed his glasses to clean them with his shirt and held them against the light.

"It's time we get famous."

* * *

"Uhm, ... Naomi Campbell?"

Naomi stopped short in her tracks as she came out of her classroom. The timid-looking girl standing before her was alternating between looking down at the floor shyly and stealing short and furtive glances at her. Classes were over half an hour ago, and the corridors were mostly empty now. The girl must have been waiting for her outside the classroom for quite some time.

"…you are?" replied Naomi cautiously. Her defence mechanism was always automatically set in place when it comes to strangers. Despite the girl looking relatively harmless, Naomi was still wary. Moreover, she wasn't used to people knowing her name after years of oblivion as the high school outcast.

"I'm… I'm Cathy Johnson… I… We're in the same Math class…" said the girl as she lifted her head up and brought it down soon after. There was something in those blue eyes that made her afraid to look into them.

Naomi noticed the girl had rather large and pretty eyes when she looked up, but she didn't remember seeing her before.

"Oh. Do you need to borrow today's notes or something?" asked Naomi. That seemed the only reasonable explanation to why the girl was looking for her.

"No, no, no…" said the girl hurriedly.

"I… I saw you the other day… at the arts carnival… I thought you sang well… no, you were fantastic… and I just wanted to let you know… I'm… a… big fan…" The last few words were mumbled so softly Naomi almost didn't catch it. The girl blushed as she took out a plastic box from her bag and handed to Naomi.

"I made these for you myself. I hope you'll like it," said the girl shyly with a little smile.

Naomi's hand reached out distractedly to take the box while still trying to process what the girl had said. _She said she's a big fan. Jesus, I have a fan now?!_

And all this while, she was thinking that whenever their band performed in school, nobody really gave a damn.

"I…," started Naomi as she stared at the box in her hand, but the next time she looked up the girl named Cathy had already disappeared.

As Naomi opened the box, she saw a note pasted on the inside of the lid, written in colorful ink and meticulously decorated with patterns and stars. "You rock, Naomi!"

Inside the box was filled with rows of bite-sized home-baked cookies stacked on top of one another.

* * *

"If you're asking for my opinion, I'm telling you no," said Gina as she took the tray of chicken from the oven with a pair of kitchen gloves.

"But Mom. I swear. If we don't make it good after a year, I'll apply to go to university," Naomi explained, chasing Gina around the kitchen.

"Naomi darling," said Gina as she put the tray of chicken on the tabletop and turned to Naomi. "Don't you understand? It's not that I don't believe you won't make it."

"Then what? If you do believe in me why are you stopping me from going after my dreams?" cried out Naomi, finally unable to hold her exasperation in.

"Because I'm afraid for you, my dear," said Gina, her concerned eyes boring into Naomi's angry, watery eyes.

"It's not an easy world out there like you think. You're gonna get bullied and put down by people and thrown around like you're worthless. Your father and his band had to roam the streets for seven years before their talent was finally recognised. And another three years before they had their first record. Do you really think one year would be enough for you to make it to somewhere? Don't be so naïve, Naomi. You're only wasting your time at the end of the day."

"Put it simply, you just don't think I'm good enough," said Naomi spitefully.

"You know I don't mean that…" Gina defended herself.

"Dad didn't make it good in life as a musician, and you think that I won't either," added Naomi, knowing that this was what would hurt her mom the most.

"Don't bring your father into this," said Gina, hurt evident in her voice.

"You always thought he was a good-for-nothing for pursuing music, don't you? And then you chased him away from our family. And now it eats you to see that I'm about to take the same path that he did. It eats you to see that I take after him, not you!" yelled Naomi, who was crying now.

"Stop it," said Gina weakly.

"You were the reason why he left our family. You fucking pushed him to that woman-," Naomi didn't manage to finish her sentence because a sudden blow across her cheek had left her in shock.

Gina stood there looking at Naomi with tears in her eyes, her lips quivering as her hand was held in a raised stance from the slap.

"You were right, I was too naïve. You didn't believe in dad, why the fuck would you believe in me now!" Naomi lashed out as she wiped her tears on her sleeves and ran out the house onto the streets.

* * *

Gina tossed in her bed and glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table. It was 1:49 in the morning and Naomi was still not back yet. She knew she had no real cause for worry; the girl must have gone and looked for Thomas after running out of the house this afternoon.

Since Naomi was little, she never had many friends. Because Eddie's band had to tour several times a year around the region to perform and he wanted the family to stay together, their family was always on the move, and that meant that addresses and schools were never permanent. Thomas was the only friend Naomi ever had; his dad was the bassist in Naomi's dad's band, and their family suffered from the same nomadic fate as Naomi and her mom. Maybe it was because their family backgrounds were so similar, Naomi took to Thomas easily and confided in him freely even though he was a boy. When Thomas' father died in a road accident on one of the band's tours, the band was so devastated they decided to disband and go separate ways, not wanting to replace him with a stranger. Naomi's dad lost a great friend in Thomas' dad, and since that incident he was never really the same again.

Gina bit her lip as a tear flowed down her cheek onto her pillow. The night she and Eddie fought in the kitchen over whether they should let Naomi quit school and pursue music, she knew that everything was over. She knew in her heart that whether or not Naomi should go to a music school was never the concern at hand; Eddie just needed an excuse to bring up what he'd really wanted to say for a long time now. Gina had known about the other woman for quite some time, and she was biding her time all this while; waiting for Eddie to be truthful with her. But Eddie proved himself to be the coward in the relationship like he always was, even as he walked out on both mother and daughter, he had conveniently blamed everything on Gina.

Gina wiped the tears away quickly and closed her eyes pretending to sleep as she heard a hand on the door knob. She could recognize the sound of Naomi's footsteps as she walked in the room making the floorboards creak under her weight. After a while, she heard her leave again.

Gina felt her heart ache momentarily for having slapped Naomi earlier in the day. The poor girl hadn't had it easy all these years. She knew Naomi adored her dad a lot, and despite all that Eddie did, Gina hadn't wanted Naomi to think badly of her dad. That was why she had never told her the truth all this while, and never would.

Although on the surface Naomi had appeared angry at her dad for walking out on her, Gina knew that she still missed him very much. Otherwise she wouldn't have continued playing the guitar; the guitar was like the symbol of the father-daughter's relationship since Naomi was little. Naomi played the guitar to remember her father, even if she didn't admit so.

That was the reason why Gina became more receptive to Naomi playing the guitar after Eddie left. Naomi became more withdrawn than she already was after her dad left her without a word. Music became sort of a sanctuary for her, and Gina just didn't have the heart to take it away from her. Over time, she realised what Eddie said that night at the kitchen actually did make some sense; Naomi was _really_ talented at the guitar and her talent deserved to be developed further. She and Thomas discussed about it behind Naomi's back, and they both thought Naomi should get out of her comfort zone and start opening up to people other than her four permanent audience (Thomas, Gina and their two dogs, Nietzsche & Voltaire). And hence that incident at breakfast where they deliberately prodded Naomi to join a band.

And now, three years later, Naomi had asked to take a year off before starting university to travel with her band and seek performing opportunities on the road. By right, Gina should be happy that her plan to get Naomi to open up to others had worked successfully, but somehow she couldn't help feeling that this would turn out badly. Gina had seen the lives led by Eddie and his bandmates while they were on the road; there was temptations and dangers lurking in every corner everywhere. What if something bad happened to Naomi? She'd already lost Eddie. She really couldn't afford to also lose the one thing she had left in her life.

Gina swallowed back a tear as Naomi's words came back to her.

_You didn't believe in dad, why the fuck would you believe in me now!_

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and exhaled deeply.

She had made a decision.

And now for some sleep.

* * *

One morning several days later, Naomi caught sight of a large note on top of a knitted purple sweater on the dinner table as she skipped down the stairs like usual.

The note read in large cursive handwriting that she recognised at once as her mom's.

_**Gone to Granny's for a few days. Be gone before I come back lest I change my mind. The sweater's for colder days – you would appreciate it when your band is down and out and has no money to pay for the heating in the van. **_

_**All the best and I love you. Remember the door's always open when you need home.**_

_**p/s: I believed in your dad, THAT'S WHY I believed even more in you now. Make it good.**_

Naomi smiled as a tear fell from her cheek onto the note, smudging the words.

* * *

The bed creaked loudly as Naomi turned on her side and stared at the ceiling above her. The paint was peeling off and had dubious water marks that suggested leaking, but Naomi wasn't really bothered as she studied them distractedly. After being on the road for three months, she had learnt to shrug off all these trivial things she noticed that constantly reminded her of the comforts that were waiting for her at home.

The September air was chilly to the bones, and the lousy heating in the room wasn't helping matters. Across the room the boys were already snoring in their hammocks, their amplifiers and instruments laid haphazardly amongst all the clutter of backpacks, beer bottles and pizza boxes.

The band had been in London for almost a month now, trying to play at various clubs across the city, but none of the club owners wanted to hire them as a permanent band. Their earnings accumulated for the past months were running out quickly, and because the weather was turning cold, they could no longer stay the nights in their touring van and had hastily rented this rundown ghetto apartment in the south of London.

Naomi stared out the window looking for stars, but there were only dark clouds in the night sky. A few evenings before, she was out on the streets to get some food for everyone when she was taunted by a group of hoodlums on the streets who were making lewd comments about her legs and the sorts. As she tried to ignore them and walk away, the boys encircled her and came closer. Naomi swore she had never felt more afraid and vulnerable in her entire life, and she thanked her lucky stars when Jake and Dan appeared at the right moment and barked at those people to fuck off.

After the incident, Naomi kept wondering to herself if she was really suited to doing all this. Her mom was right; the life on the road wasn't as easy as she had imagined. The band faced many more rejections than opportunities during this time; they had to sleep uncomfortably on many nights; she was cold, hungry, tired and frustrated at their worst; and most of all, she missed her home and her mom and Thomas very much.

Was she really chasing after what she called her dreams all this time? Or was she just wasting her time going after something that would turn out to be nothing in the end? If she couldn't take the difficulties thrown in her face after three months, how was she going to survive the rest of the nine months?

Her mind went back to the note she saw on the dinner table that morning a few months back.

_I believed in your dad, THAT'S WHY I believed even more in you now. Make it good._

Naomi buried her head in her pillow and was determined to sleep those thoughts off.

* * *

"Well, the card is upright," Naomi directed her explanation to Dan, who was the only one paying attention as she laid the card on the coffee table. Around the table, Erik was fiddling with his mobile; Seth appeared to be listening but was obviously distracted.

"It signifies power, inspiration, creation and lots of potential… Like a new beginni-," Naomi couldn't finish her sentence because the sound of the door slamming open made all of them jump in surprise.

"Wow," began Jake sarcastically as he walked in the room. "Playing with fucking tarot cards, aren't we now? You know what? I don't need them tarot cards to tell us the fate of our band. I'm fucking telling all of you now - The Inclining Backyards is finished. We are fucking screwed and over," burst out Jake angrily as he flung his bag onto the floor.

"What's your problem this time, Jake," said Seth in a tired tone, like Jake's flare-up was another daily affair.

"It's been fucking seven months now. What the fuck have we accomplished? Huh?" demanded Jake as he looked around the room directing the question to the members. Dan and Naomi looked down dejectedly; Erik looked away and rolled his eyes.

"Playing at almost every single club across London who pitied us enough to take us in? And getting kicked out again by the next week? We're fucking going the wrong way, man. Why the fuck can't all of you see it?" continued Jake.

"We're _not_ going to be some rich asshole's pet band just because they've got the money, Jake. Money isn't what we want," replied Seth quietly.

"REALLY?" asked Jake quizzically. "Money isn't what we want? Have you opened your fucking eyes lately to see the fucking hellhole that we've been living in for four months? Money isn't what we want, Seth. But it's fucking what we need right now. You're just too damned fucking myopic to see it."

"Won't you wake up your idea, Jake?" said Erik who hasn't spoken till now. "Didn't you see how that dirty old bastard was leering at Naomi the whole time he spoke to us? He isn't interested in our music at all. He only wants us to be his private band so that he can keep Naomi as his own."

Naomi blushed. She thought she was the only one who thought the way the rich guy who had expressed interest in their band, Mr Richardson, had looked at her was inappropriate and suggestive; she didn't know that Erik had noticed too.

"And the music he made us play is fucking rubbish," remarked Dan. "We're a fucking rock band. And he's making us play classical funk with the drums and on the electric guitar? It's a fucking joke, Jake. And all his rich ass-kissing socialite friends don't fucking know music. Honestly, they wouldn't have noticed if it were a group of tone-deaf apes playing the oboe on stage instead. The whole event was just fucking hypocritical," he added hotly.

"I'm not fucking saying that we should play for him forever, you morons. I'm saying that we suck him dry, get enough money and go on and play the music that we want. Without money, did you really think we can make it past next month anyway?!" sputtered out Jake, enraged that everyone was against him.

"It's not a matter of how long we're playing for him. Don't you understand? We don't want to be held hostage by anyone; we don't want our music to be owned by anybody but ourselves. We want to play OUR music because we love it. Not because of the money," said Seth as he stood up. His voice was calm but Naomi heard the underlying anger that was threatening to explode any time.

"So you think I want the money for myself? The money goes to the band at the end of the day. Why the fuck do you think I care so much? Don't you fucking see we're much better off playing classical funk to a bunch of musically retarded assholes than to waste time in this fucking apartment playing with fucking tarot cards?" yelled Jake as he pointed at the coffee table laid with tarot cards. Naomi shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"All I'm saying is. No matter how down and out we are, remember why we are here in the first place," continued Seth. "We're here because of our passion in our music. If we lose that we'll lose everything."

"Spare me your fucking noble philosophies about passion and the fuck," snapped Jake as he marched out the room and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

The next morning, Naomi woke and sat up in her bed to realise that the air in the room was amiss. The boys were all up and standing nearby, their faces pale and in a state of shock as they stared blankly into space.

Erik caught Naomi's eye and managed out the words, trembling slightly.

"Jake's gone. He came back in the night and left… with all the funds we saved all this time. All 900£. He took the van too."

Seth, who was standing near Erik with an empty look on his face, fell back abruptly onto the chair behind him and buried his face in his hands.

Naomi knew then that everything was over.


	7. Chapter 5

note: updating with chapter 5 because i've got a little mental block with bonus chapter III.

just wanna say a little thank you to **goodstuffbro, smcl, sexpistols07, y5290, Anon, Inglestix, redheadedblonde, asdfghjkl, Guest (s), undreamable, MardyBumAtBakery, Mo, Molly, Jazy Girl, NAT, ZombieApocalypse911, Mmm, Iwy'sAshes, marsupial1974, tanner12, Kaz, HyperFitched, GilmoreRos, Parker, AllisonK039 **for taking time to leave reviews for my story, especially to **mUfF MuNcHeR, crazziii, skinsfan15, R3dN0te, Katie Watie, SomethingReal, ifsomebody'sgotsoul, Ujin** for reviewing almost every chapter. special thanks to **jaxicen** for chatting with me and getting me inspired.

you lovely people give me a reason to stay up all night to finish it and willingly end up with panda eyes. this longest chapter yet is for all you ladies out there. (:

* * *

Emily sat inside the darkness of the cockpit watching the bolts of lightning in the clouds ahead of her. The awful weather didn't look like it was going to clear any time soon and the aircraft had been experiencing recurring bouts of turbulence for the past ten minutes or so. An emergency situation was expected any moment now.

Sure enough, seconds later, the 'Master Caution' light on the annuciator panel started flashing red and a blaring auditory alert in the form of a chime filled the air in the cockpit. Emily checked the air temperature in the gas generator, and just like she'd guessed, the temperature of one particular engine had fallen to abnormally low levels.

Engine failure.

Emily's eyes darted briefly to the navigation panel. The approximate remaining flight time read: 18 minutes. According to the navigation unit, she was flying over a large cleared terrain at that moment that was suitable for an emergency landing, after which the plane would be flying over a body of water before reaching the destination. Strictly speaking, the aircraft could still function perfectly well with the three remaining engines, but if another engine had failed, then it would be a matter of life and death for all onboard.

Emily mulled over the risks and trade-offs. Should she make an emergency landing that could result in potential losses for the company, or to take a chance in this terrible weather and head on to the destination with the risk of another engine failure?

_Choices_, Emily thought. She was never good at making them.

Naomi had texted her the week before, saying that she had gotten her number from Freddie after the concert. She was surprised that Emily had left first, and she wanted to have a cup of coffee together some time, or even lunch, if Emily liked.

Emily deleted the message from her phone without replying.

A few days after, Naomi called. Emily was hesitating for a while whether to pick up the call, but her finger had already pressed the button before she could stop herself. Naomi made no mention of the previous text she had sent, only asked how Emily was doing, and if she would like to go out sometime that week.

_Sorry, I have to work all week,_ came Emily's curt reply on the phone.

_Oh, _said Naomi. _It's fine, another time then! _

Emily swore her heart ached a little hearing Naomi trying to mask the disappointment apparent in her voice with a contrived cheerful tone.

Emily closed her eyes and saw her standing there like before, her long wavy locks falling carelessly on her shoulders that were partially exposed by the flowy top she wore that night. Her easy and confident demeanor as she delivered the songs on stage, with a certain laid-back charm that could only be described as elusively fascinating. And god, the indefinable sparkle in Naomi's eye whenever she smiled unconsciously during a song. Emily thought she couldn't hear anything else during some parts of the concert because her heart was thumping so loudly in her ears.

Throughout the entire performance Emily's feet were rooted to the ground, her eyes never once looking to anywhere apart from that face onstage. It's true, Emily was hopelessly captivated by Naomi, no different from the thousands of fans who were huddled around her cramped in that tiny space of a hall, perspiring in the heat and voices hoarse from all the screaming but their ecstatic faces showing not a single hint of regret. Despite Freddie's advice at the airport against pursuing a relationship with Naomi, Emily couldn't help feeling that things were different with this girl she had only met a couple of weeks ago.

For one, Naomi didn't feel like just any other girl to Emily; she was special, and something in her guts told Emily that Naomi felt the same way about her. Emily couldn't put a finger to it, but in any case she wasn't going to let Naomi go without at least giving it a shot.

As she gripped the stalk of daisy tightly in her hands, she decided she would confess her feelings to Naomi that night.

That was, until the last segment of the performance when the last surprise guest-star made his way on stage and she caught the look on Naomi's face. Emily saw beyond the mask that the blonde was trying desperately to put up to hide her real emotions and she detected a mixture of surprise, anger, hurt and resentment in those eyes. At that moment, his name suddenly rang a bell.

_Tom McDowell. _The guy whom Freddie said Naomi had dated before.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emily saw that Freddie had turned silent and was eyeing her worriedly, but she pretended not to have noticed as she kept a straight face and stared ahead.

Downstage around her, the fans could hardly contain their excitement to see their beloved star pairing standing inches away from each other and talking casually up on stage. _Was this Naomi Campbell and Tom McDowell's way of telling the world, "Hey, we're back together again"? _

Emily felt her heart sink deeper with every moment as she watched Naomi's face closely. There was no doubt that this McDowell guy had hurt her before, and Emily couldn't help but notice from those watery blue eyes, that Naomi hadn't gotten over him.

_That's right. Naomi still had feelings for him. _

Emily swore she had no idea how her legs had managed to bring her backstage after the performance without the consent of her brain, but in any case, she'd wanted to hear an explanation from Naomi herself before jumping to conclusions.

That was when she saw it before her very eyes.

Tom McDowell's hands cupping that beautiful face that had appeared in her dreams recurringly for the past two weeks, their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

It felt as though someone had taken a knife and stabbed her several times in her heart. The pain felt very much real, only it didn't kill.

She ran. Where to, she wasn't sure, she couldn't care. All she knew was that she needed to be as far away from that place as possible. But after a while, she realised no matter how far she ran, she couldn't run from the images replaying in her own mind.

Finally, her heel gave way upon hitting the side of a man-hole cover, making her fall onto her knees on that empty one-way street. She watched the blood trickle down her calf silently as a tear that had produced itself at the tip of her eye fell to the black dress she was wearing, making a ringed stain on it.

How naïve she was, to even think for a moment that a girl like Naomi would be in love with her; that she, for one, deserved the chance to go after her. She felt so stupid all of a sudden, for having looked up all the interviews in magazines she could find to know more about Naomi; for getting Naomi a one-stalk daisy in an attempt to make her happy; for confidently defending Naomi in response to what Freddie had said.

And the biggest joke of all, to actually believe her gut feelings that Naomi liked her too.

Emily jolted out of her own thoughts and stared at the panel long and hard. Remaining flight time: 16 minutes. In the past, she would have trusted her instincts and have gone directly ahead in this bad weather in spite of the risks. Somehow this time, her waning confidence was challenging her better judgment.

_Oh, to hell with gut feelings. _

Emily engaged the gear to the left of the panel and prepared the aircraft for an emergency descent.

* * *

Emily sat down on one of the many benches that were facing the hordes of airplanes parked on the runway behind the blanket of glass panels stretching from the ceilings to the floors. The viewing gallery was almost empty, except for a backpacking traveler sleeping at a corner and a family with two kids on the other end of the gallery.

This was one of the rare times that Emily had wandered to parts of the airport other than the pilots' lounges and departure and arrival gates. As she watched the airplanes take off and land in the not-far-off distance, she couldn't help wondering what difference her presence actually made in this world. She was after all, an insignificant speck in the universe. Without her, planes still flew to destinations; people still got to reunite with their families abroad, the earth still kept spinning.

In truth, work had been what Emily's life had been revolving around for the past few years, and all along she had been happy and contented taking a great deal of pride and effort in what she was doing. She built her life around her work, and she was happy doing so.

Why was it that she didn't feel as happy now? What had changed?

Emily leant back on the bench and shut her eyes as she tried to chase away these thoughts.

"Emilio!" a loud voice rang out suddenly from behind Emily, making her eyes fly wide open.

"Cook, what're you doing here?" asked Emily in a tone of surprise as the lad walked up to her with a concerned look that she wasn't used to seeing.

"Shouldn't I be asking you this question?" remarked Cook quizzically.

"I…" began Emily.

"I heard about it from Luke," said Cook as he sat down beside Emily on the bench. "Said you made an emergency landing for no good reason."

"Well, at least now I get a few days off from flying. I needed this break anyway," Emily said as she sighed deeply.

"Tell me, what happened, man? You never did fail any flight simulation tests. Well, not since that one time at the flying academy, anyway," added Cook with a wink.

Emily laughed as she glanced at Cook. She remembered that one time when they were still trainee pilots at the flying school. In the name of brightening up the festive mood, Cook had spiked the shared drinking water at the dormitory the night before Christmas Eve, on which all the cadets had to pass an important flight simulation test in order to graduate from the academy as qualified pilots. Almost all the trainee pilots (including Cook himself, who drank the water "to be fair") failed the test entering the flight simulator stoned and completely oblivious to what was going on. The Chief Training Officer was unspeakably furious when he found out the reason behind it, and Cook was almost expelled from the academy for his prank.

"Those were good times," remarked Cook with a chuckle, but stopped laughing when he realised that Emily fell silent.

"You alright, man?" asked Cook as he placed his arm around her shoulders.

Emily forced a weak smile as she kept quiet and stared at the floor.

"I'm just tired of work, I guess," said Emily quietly.

"Wow. I don't mean to be an ass, but that, coming from Emily Fitch the Workaholic, is really quite terrifying," replied Cook, his eyes widening dramatically in mock fear.

Emily laughed and elbowed the lad in his sides, making him howl out in pain.

"Ouch. Seriously, you need a girl to take you in hand," cried out Cook as Emily scoffed and elbowed him further.

"Alright, stop it! It hurts! You don't know your own strength, Emilio. Oh, that reminds me," he added. "I'm holding a birthday party at my place this Saturday. You're coming."

"What? Why? Whose birthday is it?" asked Emily.

"Mine, of course!" remarked Cook with a hurt look, pretending to take offense at Emily's question.

"But your birthday doesn't come till next month!" retorted Emily with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, can't a guy hold a pre-birthday party these days? Besides, I'm doing this for you, dude," Cook added with a cheeky grin that made Emily uncomfortable.

"What in the world are you up to, this time?" asked Emily, her eyes squinting in suspicion.

"You'll thank me for it, Emilio. Promise," said Cook casually as he whistled and looked everywhere to avoid Emily's glare.

"James Cook, I'm warning you. If you dare pull any tricks on-," began Emily.

"Come on, don't be a prude," Cook broke in before Emily could finish her words. "Look, I'd better see you there on Saturday or I'll come personally to your place to drag you over."

"You can't make me if I don't want to go," said Emily matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah?" said Cook with a raise of his eyebrows and his trademark toothy grin. "Try me."

* * *

Emily alighted from the car as the engine was switched off. She arched her eyebrows in amazement at the house that stood before them. The lights in the house were flashing different colors like those you see in a club and the music playing inside was loud enough for the entire street to hear and sing along. Right outside the house, some guys appeared to be already drunk and were shouting swearwords across to one another with beer bottles swinging in their hands. Freddie grinned as he and JJ came out of the car and looked up at the building in front of them.

"Trust Cook to do the best parties around here," said Freddie, evidently impressed. JJ looked a little nervous and self-conscious as he smoothed out the creases on his shirt, while Emily only stood nearby looking disinterested, wondering for the hundredth time what Cook had meant the other day by him doing this party for_ her_.

Emily cringed as they made their way past the sweaty gyrating bodies in the hallway. The heat that was radiating through the air was enough to bake a pie; there were at least a hundred people inside this house. Emily caught sight of a bar counter set up on the side of a room as she elbowed her way through the crowd, complete with two sexily-clad barmaids (_Cook's style_) and a range of liquors and cocktail bottles on the shelves behind them. On the other end of the room, a live band was apparently playing and there was a huge crowd gathered in front of the band singing drunkenly along to the music.

Emily groaned internally. _Why the fuck does it feel as if they were at a club? _It hit her suddenly that Cook's idea of a party was way beyond her concept of one.

"EMILIOOO!" a distinctive voice boomed above the noise of the crowds.

_Speak of the cookie monster._ Emily turned her head in the direction of the voice and saw Cook weaving through the sea of people towards her with a toothy grin on his slightly flushed face. It was only 7 in the evening and Cook was already tipsy.

"You're late!" Cook announced theatrically before extending his arms wide towards Emily in a welcome gesture for a hug.

"Who the hell are all these people, Cook?" Emily shouted above the music into Cook's ear as she edged in gingerly for a hug with him.

"They're friends of me Cookie," Cook yelled back tipsily with a dorky grin as he swayed unsteadily from side to side, giving Freddie and JJ sloppy bro hugs. "Shum of them anyway… I don't know where the rest came from," he slurred with a hiccup.

Emily, Freddie and JJ all shot Cook incredulous looks at once but the latter took no notice at all.

"James."

Every bit of Emily froze as she heard the voice that approached from somewhere behind her.

_Are you fucking kidding me? _

Cook's flushed face lit up upon recognition of the owner of the voice.

"Naomikinshhh!"

_Holy motherfucking cows._

"For goodness' sake, stop calling me that!"

Emily swore she stopped breathing as she spun around. Naomi was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a dark blue tight-fitting blazer over her top with her hair falling nonchalantly on her shoulders; her blue eyes that were accentuated by make-up sparkling as she cheekily slapped Cook on the head.

Emily felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of the face that she had been desperately trying to rid from her mind for the past two weeks. She almost forgot how effortlessly gorgeous Naomi was.

_Oh, who was she kidding._ There was never a single day since the day they'd met that she didn't think about her.

Emily swallowed hard as Naomi's eyes caught hers the next second. The latter's eyes first revealed a look of recognition and surprise, then a hint of joy that was quickly replaced with sadness. Emily felt so guilty she wanted to die on the spot.

"Oh yeshhh," said Cook as if suddenly remembering something and turning slowly to Emily, JJ and Freddie.

"Guys, meet Naomikins. You've heard of her, haven't ya? She's the frontman of Ace of Wands. They're a great band… She and I, we go a looooong way back in high school. I got her band to play for my party today," Cook rambled on in between hiccups. "For free," he grinned and gave Naomi a wink. Emily could feel that Freddie's eyes were suddenly on her.

"Ahem, we weren't all that chummy in high school, James," said Naomi with a roll of her eyes. "You hated my guts, didn't you?" she added teasingly.

"Yeah, but that changed, didn't it?" said Cook with a toothy grin as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Uh huh, after I saved the Great James Cook from-," declared Naomi proudly with a smirk on her face.

"Ahhhhrabrabbabnyanyagnyagnya g," an alarmed Cook cut in with gibberish in an attempt to stop Naomi from finishing her sentence.

"From what?" Emily, JJ and Freddie blurted out at the same time with curious faces.

"It don't matter no more," said Cook, desperately trying to change the subject. "Whatsh important ish that Cookie Monster and Naomikins share a precious friendship now, ain't it," slurred Cook quickly with a wide smile as he pulled Naomi closer to him with his arm.

Naomi rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling at the cheesiness of Cook's words.

"Pretty sure this friendship is one-sided," teased Naomi as she stuck out her tongue at Cook.

"Bitch," Cook remarked with a grin, inciting Naomi to elbow him in the sides once again. Cook pretended to howl out in pain, making Naomi laugh heartily. Emily shifted uncomfortably upon seeing how intimate the two were.

"God, Emilio," said Cook as he winced and rubbed his sides. "I'm shinking you and Naomi will get along very well, what with this strange fetish of elbowing people that you two share."

Emily felt her cheeks grow hot in an instant.

"Anyway, Naomikins," continued Cook. "Theesh are my friends from the company. We graduated together at the flying school. Fredster… JJ… Emily… and Fredster… Oh, have I mentioned him already?" he added as he gestured to each of them.

"Hey," said Naomi as she smiled politely at JJ, and nodded with a knowing smile at Freddie. Her eyes rested uncertainly on Emily, who was looking away and was seemingly interested in something over at the bar counter. The red-head was definitely trying every possible means to avoid eye contact.

"By the way, lads, Naomi's strictly off limitsh. She's got the Cookie Monster's stamp of protection. You gotta get my approval first before going after her," said Cook tipsily with a smirk. "That includes you, Gay-milio," he added with a chortle as he eyed Emily.

Emily felt her throat went dry.

_What the fuck, Cook. _

If not for the fact that Cook was so drunk that she was almost sure he had no idea what the hell he was talking about, Emily would have given him a black eye for outing her to Naomi on the spot. Emily's eyes darted anxiously to Naomi to see what her reaction was, but she couldn't tell anything from the wide-eyed look on the blonde's face.

Was that a look of disgust? Shock? Indifference?

"Shut up, James," said the blonde uncomfortably as she squirmed under his arm. "I'm not _yours_ to protect."

Emily could feel Naomi's eyes on her as she pretended to look away casually. She could hear the violent trepidation of her heartbeat in her ears again.

"I'm gonna go get a drink," Emily said before hastily turning in the direction of the bar counter and disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

Over at the bar counter, Emily watched Naomi bend over laughing heartily on the other side of the room as a tall good-looking guy with sleek brown hair whispered something in her ear. Emily downed her fifth shot of vodka as she caught sight of Cook staggering towards her in the crowd.

"Whatcha doing sitting here alone man?" asked Cook as he rested an elbow on the counter and eyed Emily questioningly. "I'll have whatever she'sh had, gorgeous," Cook said to the barmaid with a wink while gesturing to Emily's empty shotglasses. The barmaid smiled and returned a flirtatious glance.

"Listen, Emilio… Cookie wants ya to meet shumbody," said Cook as he turned to Emily and lowered his face so that she could hear him above the music. "She's fit as fuck and she playsh for your team," added Cook with a broad smile on his face.

"Leave me alone, Cook," said Emily with a roll of her eyes. So that was what Cook meant when he said he had done this party for her and she would thank him for it.

"Oh come on, Emilio. If she ain't so gay I swear I would have kept her for myself. Ya know, show her a good time. Trust me, you'll like her," continued Cook as he downed a shot of vodka. "Oh look, there she cumsh!"

"Hazel!" Cook called out and waved wildly to a girl in the sea of people before Emily could stop him.

A tall blonde girl in the crowd turned her head upon hearing Cook's voice. Emily recognised her face immediately. She was the air stewardess who had passed her Naomi's airsickness bag message on the plane. They had met each other previously working on the same flights. Emily thought Hazel was really sweet and all but she wasn't interested in her. Not when Naomi was constantly on her mind anyway.

_Please don't tell me that the girl Cook is hooking me up with is Hazel. Oh dear god, Cook is fucking drunk._

"Hazel," said Cook as the blonde walked over. "Meet Emilio. Emilio, meet Hazel."

Cook winked at Emily as he whispered to her in a low voice, "Fit as fuck, isn't she? You're welcome."

Emily fought the urge to strangle Cook with both hands.

"Hi, Emily," said the blonde timidly as she smiled shyly at Emily.

Emily smiled awkwardly back, and for a few seconds, an uncomfortable silence hung between them.

"Come on, don't just shtand around staring at each other," said Cook as he gently pulled Hazel closer to Emily. "Go get drunk and get acquainted. Go ahead and explore each other," said Cook, chuckling at the innuendo of his last sentence. Emily wished she had something sharp within reach to stab the boy with. Cook seemed to have caught the glare Emily was giving him and shut up at once.

"Alright, I'm leaving. You girlsh have fun," said Cook, flashing a broad smile before turning to ditch Emily in this painfully awkward situation. Emily wished for the millionth time that Cook would trip over himself in his drunken stupor and just die on the spot.

Emily scratched her forehead uneasily as she thought of something appropriate to say, but nothing came to her mind. Hazel stood close by, smiling tensely and looking so ill at ease that Emily felt sorry for her.

_God, it's been so long since she'd done this hooking up thing. _This was hopeless.

"Erm," ventured Emily after a long excruciating silence. "Can I get you a drink? Since all the drinks are on Cook, we should drink all we can to _thank _him for dumping us in this awkward situation huh," added Emily with a nervous chuckle.

Emily turned silent when she noticed that Hazel didn't look amused at all. _Shit, now she must think that I loathe her company._

"I- I don't mean that I don't like hanging around with you," Emily began rambling in an attempt to salvage the situation. "I mean, you're a nice, gorgeous girl, you don't have to do this if you don't want-," Emily's words were cut off by the touch of something soft and sweet on her lips, the unexpected contact sent her backing away a little in shock.

_What in the world?_

"I've liked you since the first time we flew on the same flight, to Los Angeles," confessed Hazel shyly as she lowered her head to avoid Emily's gaze. "You were so serious while you were working. I found it wildly attractive."

Hazel looked up at Emily but the latter just stared blankly back at her, her face clearly still in shock.

"Everyone in the company knew who you were because of that Captain Velleman incident. Yet when you spoke to me you'd never put on any airs like some of the pilots do when talking to the rest of the cabin crew. You were gentle and friendly and sweet."

Emily gaped at the confession that Hazel had just made. She'd thought this was just one of Cook's crazy, spontaneous set-ups of his friends. She had no idea that Hazel had a crush on her. She gazed back at the blonde, her head clouded by the alcohol she had downed too fast a while ago. As Hazel leaned in for a second kiss, Emily found her hands cupping the blonde's cheeks and deepening it.

_Naomi…_

Emily froze as her eyes shot wide open. She pushed the girl who was still kissing her away abruptly, eyeing her as if she hadn't noticed her before. Hazel looked back at her with confused, hurt eyes. Emily felt guilt-ridden as she turned away and left Hazel alone behind without a word, but there was no way she could stay.

She desperately needed some air.

* * *

Emily lit a fag as she stood alone outside of the house, leaning against its wall. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers as she blew a whiff of smoke in the cold night air.

_What the hell was she thinking? There she was, making out with a gorgeous blonde girl who was into her. And she just _had _to go and think about the one person she ought not to think of. _

"Hey," came a voice beside her suddenly, rudely jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Naomi," Emily managed out shakily as she turned and saw the blonde looking at her tenderly with concerned eyes. Naomi was looking more stunning than ever in the soft dim light of the streetlamp, her cheeks a shade of red from the alcohol or the cold, Emily couldn't really tell, but god, did she look beautiful.

"I saw you heading out here by yourself," said Naomi as she bowed her head for a moment before looking up at Emily again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," said Emily with a weak smile, surprised that Naomi actually took notice of her.

_Stop over-thinking things, Emily Fitch. She's just concerned about you as an acquaintance. _

Naomi kept silent for a moment before blurting out the words.

"Emily… Have I done something wrong or something? Because I feel like you've been avoiding me," said Naomi, hurt apparent in her voice.

The image of Naomi and McDowell kissing backstage crept sneakily into Emily's thoughts for the millionth time.

Emily stood rooted to the ground, not knowing how to answer Naomi.

_She can't. She can't do this anymore. It hurts so bad. _

"I think it's best we don't meet anymore," Emily finally said, her heart breaking into two as she did so.

Naomi only looked back at Emily silently, her eyes blinking back tears before she finally nodded without a word.

"It's the tabloids, isn't it?" said Naomi knowingly.

"No, it isn't," replied Emily a tad too quickly.

"Then, why?" asked Naomi, her eyes unable to conceal the hurt behind.

"I…," began Emily, but it hit her that she was speechless.

_What can she say? Was she supposed to tell Naomi that she was in love with her? That she couldn't even bear to remain friends with her and see her anymore because it hurts so bad to know Naomi would never love Emily back in the same way she loved her?_

Emily's heart sank as the tornado of thoughts hit her. She was at a loss as to how to answer Naomi.

It was at that moment when she caught sight of Hazel amongst the crowd through one of the windows in the house.

She had no idea why she did it. The words came out before she could stop herself.

"Because I have a girlfriend," Emily lied as her eyes darted to the floor and avoided Naomi's gaze. "And I don't want her to get the wrong idea about us."

"I'm sorry," added Emily before hastily walking back into the house, leaving Naomi all by herself in the dark cold night.

_Emily Fitch. You big fucking evil liar._

* * *

Emily placed her hands on the waist of the blonde in front of her and swayed tipsily to the music. Hazel was looking back lovingly into her eyes as she slung her arms around her neck, making Emily feel an overwhelming sense of guilt instantly.

About half an hour ago, Emily had looked for Hazel and asked her for a dance. Emily wanted to put up a show for Naomi to prove her point. She felt bad for using Hazel, but she needed Naomi to be convinced so that she would stay away on her own accord.

After tonight, she and Naomi would probably never meet again and maybe, just maybe, if she stopped seeing Naomi around, she could start trying to get over her.

Emily's eyes darted to the far end of the room. Naomi was sitting at the bar counter in between two guys. Her face was much redder than it had been before, and her sluggish actions showed that she was obviously tipsy. Naomi was laughing at something one of the guys had said, and when he handed her a drink, she took it and downed it in a blink of an eye.

Emily turned away hurriedly as Naomi's eyes looked up in her direction to meet hers.

Was that a hint of sadness she saw in those beautiful blue eyes?

That nagging feeling in her gut crept up on Emily once again.

_She feels the same way about you._

Emily brushed the thoughts away angrily. She was afraid; she was very afraid of indulging in these delusions that would only serve to hurt her further later. It had happened with Leia, and it had hurt her real bad the last time. She couldn't afford to let it happen with Naomi as well. She was sure this time it would surely kill her.

Emily stared intently at Hazel's face. To be fair, Hazel was really fit like what Cook had said. Her brown eyes shone brightly as she smiled; her hair was soft and straight; she smelled so great, and hell, she had a body that even Emily was jealous of. To top it all off, she was a great kisser. And surprisingly, Emily hadn't resisted her when they kissed earlier.

Why couldn't she fall in love with Hazel instead? Hazel was gay and liked her. Everything would have been much simpler. Emily knew Hazel would never be able to hurt her like Naomi was able to.

Because Hazel wasn't Naomi.

Emily bit her lip as she glanced at Naomi from across the room, all the while dancing slowly to the music with Hazel in her arms.

Emily felt Hazel's hands pushing her shoulders back gently.

"You're in love with that girl, aren't you?" said Hazel sadly in a knowing tone, her head cocking slightly towards where Naomi was sitting. "That cute blonde on the airplane who passed a message to you."

Emily's mouth went dry.

"She's adorable," continued Hazel as tears streamed down her eyes and she removed her arms around Emily's neck. "I hope you end up with her," she added with a smile.

"Thanks for keeping me company tonight," whispered Hazel as she leant in and kissed Emily on the cheek, before disappearing into the crowd of people dancing.

Emily stood there gaping, guilt-stricken for the second time that night.

_Hazel knew all along that Emily was just using her._

Emily felt awful about what she did and was going to run after Hazel when she caught sight of Naomi on the stairway. Naomi appeared to be severely drunk and the two guys from before were holding her up the stairs. Emily noticed that there was something wrong with Naomi's eyes. They were vacant and unfocused. As the trio disappeared into the dark upstairs, Emily was gripped with an uneasiness she couldn't explain.

Without a second thought, she jostled her way through the throngs of people towards the flight of steps.

Upstairs, the smell of pot filled the air in the hallway lined with couples making out. Emily scanned the hallway briefly; Naomi and the two guys were nowhere to be seen. She grew worried as she opened the doors to each of the rooms and found that the three had mysteriously disappeared. Finally, she came to the last door at the end of the hallway and found it to be locked.

Emily rammed hard on the door. "Open up!" she yelled as she yanked at the doorknob, attracting the attention of one couple who was lying at a corner. After several more knocks, the door finally opened to reveal a guy's head in the tiny gap in between.

"What the fuck do y-," the guy's words were cut off when Emily kicked the door hard, making him fall back onto the floor.

Emily froze at the sight before her as she entered. At the side of the room a guy was holding up a phone camera and shooting something. When he saw Emily he was so startled he dropped the phone on the floor.

On the double bed in the middle of the room laid Naomi on her back, her dark blue blazer removed, and her top violently ripped to reveal her bra within. Her eyes were staring dreamily as she let out bouts of giggles, completely oblivious to what was going on.

"Oi, mind your own fucking business, will ya," the guy who had fallen down had picked himself up and was pushing Emily back to the door.

Emily felt an immense wave of rage surging through her veins. The next thing she knew, her fist had swung right into the guy's face, the sound of bones cracking tearing through the air as the impact hit his nose.

"FUCK!" yelled the man as he raised a fist and punched Emily back. Emily winced in pain as she fell back onto the floor, her hand instinctively touching the side of her mouth as she tasted blood on her lip.

Emily saw that the ring on his right middle finger was stained with blood.

As the man raised a fist for another blow at Emily's face, his arm was stopped halfway in midair by another hand. The next moment, a couple of punches flew into the guy's face.

"This will teach you not to hit the ladies," said the voice as he punched the guy again in the tummy, making him bend over and howl out in pain, before dropping to the floor and writhing in agony.

Freddie glared at the other guy with the phone camera, who stood frozen to the ground and looked like he was going to pee in his pants any time soon.

"You do know you can go to jail for this, don't you?" said Freddie as he cocked his head towards Naomi, who was giggling and mumbling to herself now, obviously high on something the guys had spiked in her drink.

"Please don't call the police!" the guy begged, seemingly alarmed. "We meant no real harm! We just wanted to have some fun," he added desperately. Emily thought he looked like he was going to break down and cry the next moment.

"Give me the fucking phone," Freddie hollered and the guy scampered over and passed him the phone.

"Get your pathetic friend out of here," said Freddie as he took the phone and punched the guy in his tummy. The guy bent over yelling out in pain before hurriedly struggling to scramble out of the room with his friend in his arm.

"Jesus, Ems," said Freddie as he eyed Emily's cut lip. "You're bleeding!"

"I'm alright," said Emily as her eyes were fixated on the girl lying motionlessly on the bed.

"Listen, Fred. Naomi can't go out like this, the reporters are everywhere and they are sure to write things when they see her in this state. You go get a top from Cook's wardrobe. I'll look after her and make sure nobody comes in."

Freddie nodded and promptly left the room. Emily locked the door after him and winced in pain as her tongue licked the cut on her lip. Turning her head to the motionless figure sprawled on the bed, she walked up slowly to Naomi's side, her eyes a look of worry as she gazed at her sleeping face.

"Naomi, … Naomi," Emily called out softly as she leaned across the bed and shook Naomi gently, her voice suddenly hoarser than usual.

"Emily?" Naomi said tenderly as she opened her eyes slowly like a child woken up from sleep and gazed at Emily dreamily. Emily's breath hitched at the way Naomi had called her name.

"Can you walk?" asked Emily, before realising that Naomi's eyes had wandered off to somewhere else. It hit her that the blonde had no clue what was going on. "OK, I doubt so. Right, we need to get you out of here."

As Emily leaned forward in an attempt to carry Naomi out of bed, a sudden weight on her back made her lose balance and fall on top of the blonde, her hands pinning down Naomi on both sides to support her weight. Emily realised that the sudden weight was actually Naomi's hands wrapped around her back to pull her in closer. Emily swallowed hard as she froze in that position, inches away from Naomi's face. Those blue eyes directly below her danced with a mischievous twinkle as Naomi broke into giggles, totally oblivious to the tension in the air that was thick enough to strangle Emily to death.

_Fuck. _

Emily tried to adjust her weight on her knees in an attempt to pull away but she was caught off-guard when Naomi suddenly flipped her over to the side. The next moment, Naomi was straddling Emily and smiling impishly with a playful wink.

"You're naughty," Naomi bent over and whispered seductively into Emily's ear, the warmth of her breath scorching the latter's skin. "You tried to escape."

Emily froze. _Wait, is she in one of her sex dreams about Naomi again?_

"Don't even think of it," Naomi continued in a whisper, her bra brushing against Emily's chest as she leaned in close. "I'm holding you prisoner for tonight," her words came out slowly as she wetted her lips seductively with her tongue and gazed straight into Emily's eyes.

For a while, Emily thought she saw a hint of recognition in Naomi's eyes and wondered if Naomi was actually sober. But she knew she was mistaken when Naomi broke into giggles in an intoxicated manner again.

_What the fuck did those two guys feed Naomi exactly? _

Emily tried to pull away, but it was nearly impossible with Naomi's weight on her. The red-head's eyes widened as she watched Naomi remove what was left of her ripped top over her head as she continued straddling her, revealing her black bra fully. Emily felt her knees go weak. Now, it was totally physically impossible to pull away.

Naomi cupped Emily's cheeks with both her hands, her breaths suddenly heavy as her eyes met with the red-head's. For a moment, the air in the room held still, and Emily really thought that it was sober Naomi, not drunk and stoned Naomi, who was hovering above her.

Emily watched Naomi intently as the latter closed her eyes gently and leaned in cautiously and uncertainly, like a teenager who's nervous about a first kiss. Emily's heart thumped wildly as she took in all of Naomi; the long dark eyelashes, the beautiful curves of her cheekbones, her tantalising cherry-red lips.

_God, she's beautiful. _

Trembling slightly, Emily lifted her head gingerly and met Naomi's lips halfway with her own, closing her eyes slowly and taking in a deep breath as she deepened the kiss.

Moments later, Naomi pulled away from her lips and trailed kisses down her neck. Emily felt her breath quickening and a slight wetness between her legs.

Then all of a sudden, there was no more motion.

Emily turned her head to the side, only to find Naomi's head rested on its side, her eyes closed and her mouth hung open in an adorable 'o' shape as her light snores filled her ears like music.


	8. Bonus Chapter III

**A/N:** hello! gotta apologise for the looooong break since the last chapter. listen to my excuses?

first of all, i've been spending some time reading the works of some really incredible authors on this site, including the awe-inspiring [I Hold A Force I Can't Contain]. (yes i'm bloody late i know. but when it comes to stories like that one can appropriately say 'better late than never'). if HyperFitched happens to be reading this by any chance, i just want to say unabashedly that i'm a huge fan. :)

second reason is rather embarrassing so to speak. well the truth is, i've been having doubts about my own writing after reading so many great stories here. :/ you know that feeling you get when you read something earth-shatteringly fantastic and you're like, "damn it! why did i even start writing a story in the first place, it's embarrassing." i'd be lying if i'd said i hadn't entertained a teeny weeny (just a little) bit of thought in abandoning this story (hang on, don't start flinging the virtual rotten eggs at me first). BUT after soaking in my own little stupid melancholy for a couple of days, i decided i'd continue this story because i really like writing it. i might have started it on a whim (FitchSwitch still hasn't updated WTHS yet, noooooo). my story might not be deep and my writing's neither poetic nor exciting; but i've come to realise writing it makes me happy, it just does. and seeing that there are others who like it too makes me feel as if i'm a part of something bigger than i am. :D

so, i've sought to blatantly ignore the fact that my writing's mediocre (and i implore you to do so as well) and just continue with it – 'just because' (quoting sxe fiend)! my only hope is that i would stay inspired enough to finish the first fanfic i've written in my life.

right, now you may throw the eggs :) or, you could start reading this (caution: naomily-less!) bonus chapter III. it's really long and boring but i'm just glad i'm finally done with it so i can move on to chapter 6! *dances around room*

o, and before i forget! thanks for the lovely reviews last chapter, always glad to see one, no matter how short they are. :) i was actually waiting to get cursed by someone for always ending the chapters with cliffhangers, but so far it seems like nobody's complaining, so good for me!

* * *

"Everything in life happens for a reason, Naomikins."

It was a rare gem of wisdom that came surprisingly from Cook's mouth some years back when they were still in high school.

They were sitting together by the lake in silence when Cook picked up a stone from his side and threw into it into the water. The stone skipped on the water surface three times before disappearing under the ripples.

"If I hadn't had such a fucking crazy and pathetic excuse for a family that screwed me up real bad, maybe I wouldn't have been the asshole that I am today," he began.

Naomi looked at Cook quizzically, wondering what his point was, but the latter just kept his eyes on the evening sun reflecting off the surface of the lake.

"And if I hadn't been the asshole that I was, I wouldn't have kept trying to mess up your life in school for a whole three years. You probably wouldn't have saved me the last time, and I wouldn't have got to know the real you and we wouldn't have been friends now," continued Cook.

"So, even though I fucking hate my family sometimes, I still thank them for screwing me up in a way I end up being friends with you," said Cook as he turned to Naomi with a ridiculous grin plastered on his face.

"Because things do happen for a reason, Naomikins, even if you can't see it now."

* * *

_The little girl came home one day from school in tears. _

"_OK, who upset my baby this time?" he asked as he sat her on his lap and gently wiped her tears away with his thumb. _

"_I hate school," Naomi sniffled as she choked on her words. _

"_But why?" he probed gently. "Didn't you say you had fun during art class the other day?" _

_She shook her head sadly. _

"_Come on, sweetheart. Tell daddy what happened."_

"_Ms Johnson called on me in class today to count from one to twenty," the little girl explained in between hiccups. "And I couldn't remember if it's eight or seven that comes after six. All the other kids laughed at me. I hate all of them… I hate school!" _

"_Shush," said the man as he patted his daughter's head and tried to calm her down. "And what did Ms Johnson say to that?"_

"_She called on Polly instead and Polly got all the numbers right. Ms Johnson said I should work harder to learn my numbers. But I did, Daddy! I really tried but I just can't remember them!" said the little girl as the tears started to flow again. _

"_I know, sweetheart," replied the man as he watched his daughter with a saddened expression on his face. _

"_Daddy?" asked the girl as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. _

"_Hmm?"_

"_Why am I so stupid?" she asked as she looked worriedly into her father's eyes. _

"_No, god, no, you're not stupid. Why'd you say that?" asked the man in a slightly alarmed tone. _

"_Because all the kids in class seem to be so much smarter than me. Everyone can already read and write, but I can't. I keep mixing up the letters," sobbed the girl. _

"_Sweetheart," began the man as he tilted the little girl's body so that she was facing him. "Do you remember me telling you about Albert Einstein the other day?"_

"_You mean the very smart scientist who came up with the equation E=mc²?" said Naomi as she looked at her father intently. _

_The man looked a little surprised that the girl had remembered the equation correctly even though he had mentioned it in passing. _

"_Yes, that's him," he replied with a little smile. "He once said that everybody is actually a genius. But if we judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it's stupid."_

"_But I'm not a fish. I'm a girl," said the girl after thinking for a moment._

_The man chuckled slightly. "I know you ain't a fish, sweetheart. What Einstein was trying to say was, not everyone is good at the same things. We all have something we're better than others at. You're awfully good at playing the guitar, for one."_

"_I'm awfully good at playing the guitar," repeated the girl proudly as a smile broke out on her face._

"_Yes, you are. You're a genius, sweetheart, you know that? Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise," he said as he kissed her lightly on the forehead._

* * *

Naomi came home about two months before, and to her surprise and relief, Gina hadn't asked many questions about her premature return. Naomi couldn't have been more thankful for that. After months of travelling on the road and all that drama with Jake, the last thing she needed was a Spanish Inquisition into their band's failure and all the shame and guilt that came with it.

Jake's betrayal back in London had left the band reeling in shock. They'd be kidding no one if they'd said they hadn't seen it coming, though. After all, the heated one-against-four arguments in the last few months were obvious signs of Jake's disgruntlement with what he called the passivity and lack of ambition on the part of the rest of the members. Everyone knew that Jake was bound to leave the band one day; they just had no idea when.

But no one expected that Jake would actually steal from the band. Ironically, he was the one who always said that his business dealings with those rich socialites and businessmen were made in the best interests of the band.

All that seemed like total bullshit now.

Overnight, the band became penniless, betrayed by their runaway lead guitarist and stranded in London after having lost their only mode of transportation. If the past months of them living in a hellhole of an apartment desperately sourcing out gigs to play was akin to one last desperate bid to climb out of an abyss with the only rope they had, then Jake's betrayal was like snipping that rope they had in two and sending them back to where they came from.

Eventually, it was Seth who voiced out what the others knew but were too afraid to say: That it was time for them to disband and go home.

They found another band that was travelling from London and making a stopover in Bristol and the band members had graciously invited them to hop on their truck to take a free ride home after hearing about their predicament. Erik and Dan recovered fast from their ordeal, and were soon hitting it off well with their new friends, who took to the twins and their gregarious nature instantly. Seth, on the contrary, had kept to himself as he sat in one corner of the truck and stared out blankly at the passing scenery. Naomi's heart ached as she watched Seth try to hide his disappointment from the rest of the world. She knew how much Seth had believed in their band and she couldn't imagine how he must have been feeling then, having lost everything after all that they've been through.

As for Naomi, as crushed as she was that their efforts for the past seven months had come to naught, she couldn't deny that she actually felt relieved that she was finally going home. After being on the road for seven months, she was tired and worn out, physically and mentally. Moreover, all these months on the road had made her seriously question her own abilities as the band's front-man. Each time their band was rejected for an audition for a gig, she felt as if she should be the one taking full responsibility for their failure. She was never meant to be a vocalist right from the start, and she'd always suspected that Jake was right in saying that they'd do better with a more qualified front-man, even though Seth would hear nothing of that.

Naomi was resolute to start afresh after going back to Bristol. She would give up on all these silly, impractical pursuits of becoming a musician and apply to get into university like how her mom had hoped she would. She would major in Political Studies; she always liked Politics when she was in high school and she did fairly well in it. That's what she would do; she would work hard and graduate with a decent degree from a decent university in the country, and then get a stable job after graduation.

No more of these stupid dreams.

After they've got back, Seth went back to school to continue his studies; he had taken a year-long leave of absence from the university to travel with the band after his first year in business school. Dan and Erik decided not to further their studies and to set up a business of their own instead, selling second-hand musical instruments and handling ad-hoc music events. Naomi applied to Cambridge and received her letter of acceptance a month and a half after.

Yet when she first received the letter of acceptance from Cambridge, she wasn't as thrilled as she'd expected herself to be. She knew she ought to be happy; she had landed a place in a course that was well-sought after at one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Yet for weeks after she broke the news to a very ecstatic Gina, she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling inside that kept asking her, _is this what she really wants? _

To be honest, she wasn't so sure anymore.

Which was probably the reason why when Dan had phoned her the other day and told her that he and Erik had discovered a "secret weapon that would revive their band" while doing an ad-hoc event at a local talent competition, she jumped at it and agreed to meet at once, even though Dan had refused to divulge anything about this "secret weapon", saying it'd be a surprise.

* * *

"Bristol's Got Talent," read the humongous banner hanging onstage that caught Naomi's eye as soon as she entered the auditorium. There was a girl with long, dark brown hair dressed in a rocker outfit standing on stage with an electric guitar. A panel of three judges were sitting in the front-most row of the audience seats. Naomi scanned the place and because the audience's seats were sparsely occupied, it didn't take her long to spot Seth and the rest.

"Hey," whispered Naomi as she made her way through the rows of chairs to sit down beside Seth. "Can anyone tell me why the hell are we meeting up in this place?"

"Shhh," said Dan and Erik as they turned their heads at the same time to shush Naomi. "Just watch," said Dan as he pointed at the girl onstage.

"Thanks for the warm greeting guys, after not meeting for two whole months," said Naomi as she rolled her eyes at the twins. Seth glanced sideways at Naomi and only chuckled.

Upstage, the brunette was speaking into the microphone.

"My name's Effy, and I'm going to play 'Gray Pianos Flying' by Shawn Lane," the brunette said flatly.

"Any time you're ready," replied one of the male judges.

"She's mad," whispered Naomi to Seth upon hearing what the girl said she was going to play.

"No, she isn't," cut in Erik knowingly as he kept his eyes on the girl onstage.

A couple of coughs echoed in the now silent auditorium while everyone waited for the brunette to start playing.

As the minus one recording started playing, Naomi watched in amazement as the brunette's fingers flew all over the neck of the guitar.

"Oh my god, …" said Naomi, her jaws dropped open.

"Told ya," said Erik as he glanced briefly at Naomi with a smirk on his face.

Naomi watched the brunette onstage in disbelief as the latter's fingers danced effortlessly across the guitar strings in a speed so fast it was impossible to catch with the naked eye. When the girl had said she was going to play Gray Pianos Flying just now, Naomi didn't think she was going to play it at the _original_ speed Shawn Lane had played. And with such perfection as well. This was madness. Naomi felt like she could die happy now, having seen a guitar deity live in action at least once in her short life.

When the brunette had finished playing, Dan and Erik stood up immediately to give a standing ovation. Seth and Naomi both sat there, too stunned by the performance to get on their feet.

"Well," began the only female judge in the panel. "Effy, is it? You've played rather well…"

"What the fuck? RATHER WELL? Is this woman fucking deaf?" yelled Dan a little too loudly and Erik had to pull him back to his seat lest he ran to the front to strangle the woman.

"Shush, let's hear what the others have to say," remarked Seth.

"…unfortunately, I don't think you have the makings of a star," said the judge.

"OK, that's it. A murder's gonna take place tonight," said Dan, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What? Don't have the makings of a star?" exclaimed Naomi, who was starting to find the judges ridiculous as well.

"Well, Effy," began one of the male judges. "I think you were absolutely brilliant. It would be a huge mistake if you didn't get into the next round."

"Bloody huge one!" remarked Dan.

"Finally someone who's making sense," added Erik.

"I think your techniques are the best out of all the guitarists we've had so far," said the last judge. "But I agree with what Nancy had said. You don't have star quality when you're standing up there. There's no stage presence at all because all you're doing is standing there and playing. You are at best a skilful guitar player, but still not a star. I'll give you a chance to go to the next round this time – But I'm hoping the next time you'll be more expressive and project a more youthful and lively-."

"I won't," cut in the voice on stage.

"I beg your pardon?" said the judge, his voice evidently surprised.

"I won't change the next time. This is the way I play," replied the brunette without a hint of emotion in her voice. "I don't think there's any reason to change it."

There is an awkward moment of silence as the judge was apparently stunned by Effy's comment.

"You go girl," whispered Dan as he clenched his fist and waved it in the air.

"Well, in that case," continued the judge, obviously offended. "I see no reason in getting you to the next round. I wish you all the best and thank you for coming."

"What the fuck?" Erik and Dan said at once. Even Seth was widening his eyes in a rare look of surprise.

The brunette onstage just nodded stoically and turned to walk off the stage

"I cannot believe this. The judges are a bunch of arrogant twats," said Naomi as she leaned back in her seat with an incredulous look on her face.

"Let's go," said Dan as he stood up suddenly with Erik. "Here's where we come in."

Naomi had no time to ask questions before she was pulled away by Erik on the arm.

* * *

The four was standing outside the staging area waiting in silence when Erik spotted the girl walking out of the room with a guitar case on her back. Naomi looked up and was momentarily stunned by the sight before her. From far, Naomi had already sensed an exquisite aura about the brunette. But up close, oh my god, this woman was exactly the kind who could walk into the room and make everyone stop breathing with her presence. Naomi studied her face intently as she walked past. Her features were strikingly beautiful; piercing blue eyes, wavy brown hair and a body that could tempt both men and women, gay or straight. Did the judges really say just now that this girl didn't have star quality? Seriously, now she's convinced that not only they were deaf, they were fucking blind as well. Three fucking blind mice.

"Effy, is it?" said Erik as he rushed up to the girl and extended a handshake which the girl did not take. She gave Erik a quizzical look.

"I'm Erik, these are my band mates," said Erik with a friendly smile as he gestured to the rest of them standing a few metres behind him.

"What do you want?" asked the brunette impatiently.

"I, … We… We saw your audition just now. You were fantastic," began Erik.

"And?" asked the girl curtly with her brows arched slightly.

Naomi was starting to think this was a bad idea. Why in the world would Guitar Heroine want to join their lousy band when she could well be discovered by someone who had ears and eyes and be strumming her way to international fame, say, tomorrow? With her divine guitar skills, she could literally have anything she wanted. And I mean anything. Honestly, Naomi could picture a world in which the brunette is fighting evil in a warrior-like suit (think Xena) with just a guitar in hand and where a strum of those holy guitar strings would make everything wrong in this world right again.

Naomi needed someone to remind her why she was standing there with her band mates trying to talk Effy into joining _their _band. _Don't ask her! Let her go! She's meant for something great!_

"We are looking for a lead guitarist, and were wondering if you would want to join our band," said Erik. _Shit, he's said it._ Naomi almost fainted on the spot.

For a moment, Naomi thought Effy would say, "no", and then turn to walk off. But instead, she was surprised to catch a slight smirk on the latter's face.

"Do you have money?" asked Effy.

"What?" Erik looked as if he thought he'd heard her wrongly.

"Does your band have money to hire me?" asked Effy again, in the same emotionless tone.

"Uh, I think you've misunderstood. We're asking you to join our band as a guitarist. We're not asking you to play for an event as a guest," said Erik, looking slightly confused.

"I know that. But I won't play for nothing. If your band has money to pay me, I'll play for you," replied Effy curtly.

Erik stared back at her speechless, evidently stunned. Dan leapt forward at once to his brother's rescue.

"Hi, I'm Dan," said Dan, flashing a business-like smile. "Our band doesn't have money at the moment, but when we earn money from gigs, we will split it evenly amongst ourselves. We really value your talent, and we hope to have the chance to play with you. Since it seems like we all love music so much," added Dan.

"I think I've made myself clear enough. Like I said, I'd only play if your band can pay me," replied Effy flatly as she turned to walk away.

"Is money really that important to you?" snapped Erik a little angrily.

"Yes, it is," said Effy as she stopped in her tracks and glanced back. "Why else do you think I've joined this audition?" she shot back rhetorically as she continued walking.

"Effy, is it?" said Seth in a low voice as he ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Really, we just want to enjoy playing music and have a great time. If you change your mind, you could call us with this number," he added as he held out a name-card in his hand.

"I don't think there's a need for it," said Effy curtly as she walked out the door.

* * *

"Come on, there's no need to sulk over that arrogant bitch," said Dan as he nudged Erik lightly in the arm, who was wearing an annoyed look on his face. "We haven't met up in so long, let's go somewhere to jam!" he added, glancing at Seth and Naomi.

"But we haven't got our stuffs with us. Are we gonna play with broomsticks or what?" said Naomi with a laugh.

"Hello, you're speaking with one half of the bosses of Duo & Co. We just did a purchase yesterday. Have got them tons of instruments in the van," declared Dan with a grin.

"Your company's name's called Duo & Co.?" said Naomi as she stared at Dan incredulously.

"Sleek, isn't it? I thought of it!" said Dan.

"It's great," said Seth with a straight face as he tried not to laugh. "So where're we heading?"

"I say, let's pick up a couple of beers and go to the hill top!" exclaimed Dan.

* * *

Naomi jumped out of the van as the engine was switched off. She drew in a deep breath of the fresh spring air as she ran to the edge of the hill and took in the view of the city basking lazily in the late afternoon sun beneath her.

As she turned back, she was greeted with the familiar sight of the radio tower hovering over her. This place was their favorite jamming spot back when they were all still in high school. It was peaceful, deserted and boasted a great view of the city. Whenever they played music here, she always felt like they were filming for an MV, what with the scenic view and fields and all. Strange how it felt so long ago, when it had only been a year since they graduated from high school.

Naomi's thoughts were interrupted as Seth threw a bottle of beer over to her and she caught it instinctively.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Seth with a smile.

"I don't mind, I could really use some money now," said Naomi cheekily. Seth only laughed as he looked her in the eye.

"Hey, you two! Quit being lovey-dovey and get your asses over here," Dan yelled over as he set up his drum set on the grass while Erik tested the amplifiers.

Naomi blushed as she ran over to Dan and knocked him on the head with her knuckles. "When are you going to stop your nonsense?"

"Oww- oww! HELP!" shrieked Dan as he ducked the blows of Naomi's fist with the back of his forearms.

"What shall we play, Goldilocks?" asked Erik with a grin, directing his question at Naomi.

"What- why am I Goldilocks?" asked Naomi as she slung the guitar around her shoulders.

"Because of your hair?" said Erik matter-of-factly.

"But I've got blonde hair, not _golden _hair," retorted Naomi.

"Same difference," replied Erik with the same grin from before.

"Wait a minute," said Dan. "If she's Goldilocks, wouldn't that make the three of us the bears?"

Naomi laughed as she looked at Dan's frowning face.

"We should totally change our band name to Goldilocks & The Three Bears," said Naomi.

"Seriously," said Seth with a bored look as his elbow was perched on his bass guitar with his chin on his palm. "Could we just start playing already?"

Naomi stuck out a tongue as she started strumming the first bars of the song.

_Don't you know, _

_They're talking 'bout a revolution,_

_It sounds like a whisper._

Naomi smiled as she sang the first lines of the song into the microphone.

Hearing Erik's keyboard harmony, solid tones of Seth's bass and Dan's rhythmic drumbeats in the background, Naomi felt alive again all of a sudden. This feeling reminded her of why she had loved their band so much in the first place; why they had painstakingly travelled around the country to seek performing opportunities. Because they enjoyed what they were doing, and they had faith they would make it someday.

_Poor people gonna rise up_

_And get their share_

_Poor people gonna rise up_

_And take what's theirs_

* * *

Effy sat on the edge of the hill as she looked out at the city silently. As she stared far out at the many narrow streets weaving in between the densely packed buildings beneath her, she wondered for a moment if there's a place for her in this big city. In the past no place had ever felt big enough for her. No matter how big the city was, she'd always felt suffocated by the loud, self-important voices of the city-dwellers, their constantly revving car motors and the monotonous drone of their pitiable, wretched lives defined by their athletic performance in the rat race. Come to think of it, it's pathetic how she had run away from the place she hated so much only to end up realizing that everywhere else's the same.

As she got up from the spot and slung her guitar case over her shoulder, her ears twitched at the sound of music playing in the distance. Those annoying hoodlums must be blasting noise on their radio again. Why the fuck do they always choose to come to the quietest spaces just to destroy the silence?

By the time Effy reached the pathway to go down the hill, she could hear the music more clearly. She was mistaken before; it wasn't music blasting from a radio – someone was singing and playing live music. And to her surprise, they actually sounded quite good for a live performance.

Effy followed the sounds to a clearing before the radio tower and caught herself humming along to the song. Tracy Chapman's Talking 'Bout a Revolution. Neat song. When she got there she saw that a live band was indeed playing on the open field. There was not a single audience, but hell, the band sure looked like they were enjoying themselves.

It took quite a while for Effy to realise that the vocalist who was singing (who sounded marvelous by the way) was the blonde girl from the band who tried to get her to join them earlier at the audition. Effy stood there and watched in fascination. The drummer and keyboardist were alright, but the bassist was actually rather remarkable. Most amateur musicians have the misconception that bassists aren't that important in a band, but they can't be more mistaken. The bassist is usually the one that grounds the band and sets the tone for a performance. This one here did both to the point of perfection.

_Don't you know you'd better run run run run run run run run_

Effy eyed the vocalist with interest. The girl might not have perfect singing techniques, but her voice was uniquely charismatic and she sure knew how to deliver the songs. Now she understood a little why the judges said that she had no stage presence. Compared to the blonde, Effy really had zero stage presence. If this blonde had been standing onstage in a hall with a 300-strong audience, she would without a doubt own every inch of the entire hall with her performance and bring the house down.

But what caught her attention was the fact that all of them seemed to be having fun while jamming. It was not a let's-perfect-this-for-an-audition, but rather a let's-play-this-because-it-makes-us happy with these people. When was the last time she played music for the sake of it?

"Thank you, thank you," said Naomi into the microphone with a laugh as she finished the last line of the song and bowed to nobody. Dan and Erik were wolf-whistling from the back for themselves.

"Naomi," cried out Erik as he got the champagne bottle and ran up behind the blonde.

Naomi turned just in time to hear the loud "pop" of the bottle cork and screamed in surprise. Erik laughed as he tried to fling the overflowing contents of the bottle at the shrieking girl who was turning to run away.

Soon enough, all four were running around the place having a beer fight, and poor Seth was drenched head to toe when Dan and Erik ganged up on him to pour the ice-cold water in the cooling box over his head.

"What the fuck!" yelled Seth as he shook the water from his hair and proceeded to chase the twins around to seek vengeance.

In the state of commotion, no one even realised when Effy had slowly made her way to one of the empty amplifiers and plugged her guitar in.

"DumDumDum, DumDumDumDum-," the sudden sounds of an electric guitar playing stopped all four of them in their tracks. Their faces were mixed with surprise, confusion and disbelief as they turned their heads to see Effy playing the guitar with an expressionless face. A smile broke out on Seth's face as he ran over and picked up his bass.

"Hey, hey, hey, that's MY part," he said in jest with a grin as he glanced at Effy, who only returned a smirk and switched to playing the electric guitar part in an instant. There was a look of delight on Naomi's face as she picked up the microphone that was flung onto the grass and mumbled the first words of the song in a low growly voice, making all of them including Effy laugh.

As the four of them rocked to the rhythm for four more bars, Dan's drumfill brought them into the first proper verse of the song. Naomi was all smiles as she belted out the words she knew by heart since she was 7.

_Pressure, pushing down on me, pushing down you _

_No man ask for _

…

* * *

The five silhouettes sat in silence on the edge of the hill against the brilliant rays of the setting sun on the horizon, as beer bottles were passed amongst themselves. As they stared ahead in silence watching the beautiful sunset with quiet smiles, their feet dangling over the wall as they sipped from the beer bottles, the silence was strangely very comfortable, despite the presence of an Effy, whom they had only met today.

"Cheers to the newest addition to our band," offered Seth with a smile as he raised the bottle in the direction of Effy who was sitting right on the other end.

"Cheers," chipped in the rest as they knocked beer bottles together.

"Two years," said Effy quietly, her eyes fixed on the city ahead of them coated with the warm, orange rays of the evening sun.

The rest arched their eyebrows at her curiously.

"Two years and we must make it to somewhere. If not, I'll leave after that," said Effy as she sipped nonchalantly from her bottle.

The four of them plunged into silence at once upon thinking about the implications of what Effy had said. Two years? Can they really make it to something big after two years? Effy's conditions were a tad too demanding, but who were they to say anything? They knew she meant it; if they had accomplished nothing in two years, then she would surely have no qualms about leaving.

"What do you need the money so urgently for?" asked Dan all of the sudden.

Naomi looked at Dan in alarm, before glancing quickly at Effy. "Dan, I don't think we should ask-."

"I want to go to college," said Effy, to Naomi's surprise.

"College's overrated," said Dan with a laugh.

"Maybe," replied Effy after thinking.

The five sat for a moment in awkward silence that was finally broken by Erik.

"Say, why don't we think of a new band name? The Inclining Backyards was really a mouthful, don't you think?" he remarked.

"Yeah, who the hell thought of that name? It was so cheesy!" Dan asked.

"YOU!" said Erik and Seth at once.

"ME? Serious?" asked Dan in surprise. "OK, how about this one – DENSE?"

"You're talking about yourself?" asked Naomi.

Dan shot back a glare.

"I meant D, E, N, S, E. You know, like D for Dan, E for Erik, N for Naomi, S for Seth and E for Effy," said Dan with a smug look on his face.

"Oh my god," said Naomi as she rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you thought of that."

Seth stared at Dan. "Dude, I hope you're kidding."

"It's good, isn't it?" asked Dan.

"We are starting all over here - new band, new beginnings… But before we even start doing anything, you sentence our band to death with a band name like DENSE. Nice one, Dan," remarked Erik with a sarcastic grin on his face.

"New beginnings, …" remarked Dan absent-mindedly. "I know!"

"What?" asked Erik.

"Naomi, do you remember back in London, we were playing with tarot cards and Jake was yelling at us?" asked Dan excitedly.

"Yes, how in the world would I forget that…" began Naomi.

"That's right, do you remember you showed me a card then, and told me that it meant something along the lines of new beginnings, power, creation-," said Dan.

"Hmm…Was it the Ace of Wands?" asked Naomi after thinking for a while.

"Yeah! That's it! Ace of Wands!" shouted Dan animatedly.

"Ace of Wands…?" Erik repeated to himself.

"Doesn't sound too bad," said Seth.

"Better than The Inclining Backyards, if anything," said Naomi with a grin.

"How's that huh? Sounds great?" asked Dan as he looked to each of them enthusiastically.

"Effy, what do you think about it?" asked Seth.

Effy only shrugged. "Names don't bother me much."

"Right, Ace of Wands it is then! Woohoo! Once again, the brilliant me has saved us from a nameless crisis with my ingenuity!" declared Dan with a satisfied grin.

Seth, Naomi and Erik only looked on uncertainly.

"Why does Nameless sound more attractive than Ace of Wands suddenly?" asked Erik with a frown on his face.

"Shut up, you. You're just jealous," said Dan with a smirk on his face. "Come on! Cheers to a brand new beginning. Cheers to Ace of Wands! Bottoms up!"

* * *

And so, despite the fact that Naomi had promised herself not to go after those silly dreams, her heart brought her back to where she had first started out: doing what she really loved – being a musician. She rejected the offer from Cambridge and began their whole journey all over again with the band, this time with the powerful addition of one Guitar Goddess Effy.

The band started out in the streets performing as baskers in the ghettos. As time went by, they grew a little in fame and were invited to play at private events and gatherings. It was hard; some days they earned enough just to get by.

It was also during this time when one particularly bizarre incident took place.

One morning while they were all asleep in their rented apartment after the gig the night before, Dan was heard running into the room shouting and holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"Fuck, guys! Guess what this is!" yelled Dan, unable to contain his excitement.

"Shut the fuck up, Dan," hollered Erik, hiding his head under his pillow.

Naomi sat up in bed and went back to sleep after taking a glance and realised it was nothing special. Effy hadn't even stirred. Seth rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses before staring at the piece of paper in hand.

"Is that a cheque?" asked Seth.

"Bloody hell it is!" exclaimed Dan. "I found it in our mailbox!"

"Who's it addressed to?" asked Seth.

"No one! It's a cash cheque. And you know what, it's fucking twenty thousand pounds!" said Dan.

"What?" said Erik, who heard "twenty thousand pounds" and had sprung up in bed.

"Did it say who it's from?" asked Seth, his brows furrowed in suspicion.

"Nope, but the cheque is issued by Lloyds," replied Dan.

Effy's eyes shot open. "Where did you say you found it?"

"In our mailbox. The apartment's mailbox. I'm telling you, it's real! Somebody liked us so much they fucking gave us twenty thousand pounds!" cried Dan.

"Does that even make sense to you, Dan? Giving us twenty thousand pounds just like that, without even telling us who it's from?" asked Naomi, who had sat up in bed now.

Dan looked deep in thought for a moment.

"Burn it," said Effy.

"What?" Dan looked at her, not believing his ears.

"I said burn it," repeated Effy.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" asked Dan angrily.

"We don't know who it's from. It's better to burn it," said Effy.

Dan looked to Seth for help.

"I don't know, Dan. Naomi has a point. Why would everybody give us money out of the blue and be so sneaky about it? It does sound fishy," said Seth.

"You guys have gone bonkers. It's twenty thousand pounds we're talking about here. And you want me to throw it out? Why can't it be a fan out there who likes us very much?"

Effy rolled her eyes and stood up. "Give it to me, Dan."

"No," said Dan as he turned away and kept the cheque in his pocket. Effy walked over and Dan started running around the apartment away from her. Seth groaned. Dan could behave quite like a child sometimes.

"I'm telling you. It's either this cheque burnt or I'm outta here," said Effy quietly.

Dan looked helplessly at Effy. He knew that Effy meant every word she said. He turned to Erik, but Erik only shrugged apologetically. Reluctantly, Dan walked over and handed the cheque over to Effy.

Effy took out a lighter and burnt the cheque into the bin, much to the dismay of a distraught Dan.

No one mentioned that incident again.

Eventually they'd earned enough money to make their way through the clubs and bars across England and ended up in London again. London still reminded Naomi of that incident with Jake. Sometimes, she still wondered where he was now; if he had managed to join another band and clinched a deal with those rich businessmen; if he actually felt guilty at all about betraying them.

She got her answer one night when they had just finished a performance at a bar down south of London. Just when they were loading their instruments into the van in the alley, Naomi witnessed a police raid just down the street. Naomi was taken aback when she saw that one of the men who were found selling drugs to some youths and arrested was Jake. As he walked past her, Naomi saw a look of recognition in his eyes. A look that was quickly replaced with malice and he spat in her direction as the police dragged him into the police car. Naomi didn't tell anyone else about the incident. She knew that Dan would get upset about it and would want to get even with Jake.

Seth managed to get a deal with a strip club owner who allowed them to sleep in the basement under his club in exchange for a free gig once a week. For almost one whole month they slept on hammocks and sleeping bags in the basement, amidst rats and other disgusting creatures Naomi couldn't bear to think of.

It was also during this horrible period when it hit Naomi abruptly that the two years were up. The two years that Effy set as the time limit before she would leave the band for greener pastures. In fact, Naomi realised, the two years was up two months ago, but surprisingly, Effy didn't indicate any intention of leaving.

True enough, Effy's relationship with the rest improved a lot over the past two years. There were quite a few occasions Naomi even caught the Ice Queen Effy smiling genuinely. Sometimes she even joined in the fun when the boys were fooling around, and Naomi could tell that despite her cold hard exterior, Effy had grown to be genuinely concerned about the welfare of all her fellow members, especially her own. Effy had been a great listener all this while, listening to Naomi pour her heart out about everything, and sometimes even managing to psychoanalyse her to the point where Naomi suspected that Effy secretly knew her better than she did herself.

But apart from all these incidents, sometimes Naomi felt like she didn't know Effy at all. Her past was a total mystery to them; Effy only mentioned vaguely that her parents had died and she was alone; that she came from a small town near Woking. But that was all. Effy never talked more about them. Naomi realised the other day in horror that she didn't even know what Effy's last name was.

"Names don't bother me," said Effy flatly in response.

Still, Naomi really enjoyed Effy's company and she was flattered that Effy had stayed on with them through their darkest days even when the two years' time was up.

Their break finally came one night when a record label director was hanging out at the strip club with his friends when he heard their band and was so impressed he offered them a record deal on the spot. They couldn't believe their ears when they heard him. How ironic was that? When they were playing at proper bars and clubs, nobody had thought they were worthy of fame. Ace of Wands got their first record deal at a strip club. That would go down well in the history of the band.

Thereafter, it was a whirlwind of events. They released their first record with their own compositions and it hit gold with seven no.1 singles, much to the surprise of almost everyone. The company decided to set up a world concert tour for them despite them just starting out, because it was felt that their strengths were in live performing. The tour turned out to be a huge hit with the fans, and gained them a large following across the Americas, Europe and Asia. They won three awards at their first Grammy: Best New Artist, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Performance by a Group.

At one of the Christmas concerts they had, the band was asked to write a short shoutout to all their fans, and Naomi was tasked with writing it because "her handwriting was the most legible amongst all of theirs".

**Dearest Fans of Ace of Wands,**

**Have a graet X'Mas this saeson!**

**p/s: we believe in Satan! :-P**

**XOXO**

**Ace of Wands**

"What the fuck, Naomi," said Erik as he stared at the card. "That's not funny."

"What?" asked Naomi, not getting what Erik was saying.

"What the hell did you mention Satan for?" asked Erik.

"I didn't!"

"Yes, you did. Look," said Erik as he handed the card to Naomi to see.

"Fuck, I meant Santa!" cried Naomi.

"And this, you can't spell "great" and "season"?! Did you say you got accepted into Cambridge the last time? How did you get in with such an IQ," joked Erik with an amused look on his face.

Naomi shot him a death glare.

"It's nothing to do with IQ, Erik," said Seth as he entered the room. "Dyslexic people are as smart as any of us. Or even smarter in some cases. Their brains are just wired differently."

Naomi and Erik shot surprised looks at Seth at the same time.

"How… How did you know that I was…?" Naomi asked Seth, her jaws dropped open.

"The first time you played by ear at our audition and said you couldn't read notes, I sort of guessed it," said Seth as he shrugged. "My sister suffers from dyslexia too. She can't read notes, but she's an excellent musician who plays by ear," added Seth as he sipped from a cup of coffee nonchalantly.

"Come to think of it, if you hadn't been dyslexic, Jake wouldn't have been busy capitalizing on your inability to read notes, and I wouldn't have thought of getting you as the vocalist for our band. Everything that had been today wouldn't have happened. Imagine how different things would be," added Seth thoughtfully.

Naomi chuckled softly as she thought about how familiar this all sounded. She winked as she looked Seth straight in the eye.

"Everything happens for a reason, Seth," said Naomi, smiling from the bottom of her heart.

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p/s: does anybody even read the bonus chapters?! i mean, other than me of cos. -.-


	9. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for all the encouraging words in response to my last author's note. You ladies sure know how to make someone who writes feel better about themselves, don't you? This chapter is dedicated to guest aka writer who doesn't write fanfiction - it's great to have someone share the same sentiments. Keep that writing passion burning!**

**With that, ladies & ladies, I present you - Chapter 6. Love it, hate it, fire away at the end in a review. I was really nervous about writing this chapter for some reason and would love to hear some feedback, whether good or bad.**

**[/edited] By the way, this chapter was written on a rush of adrenalin triggered by the news that naomily is coming back. :)**

**(I tell myself to keep this chapter to 5000-word, but we all say that, don't we?)**

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Naomi's blue eyes harbored a tinge of wonder and fascination as she cautiously caressed the sleeping face beside her, her fingers lightly tracing the contours along her cheekbones. The Creator of the world was definitely in a good mood when it made this human being in front of her. Every bit of her was just _perfect._ So perfect Naomi wondered what she was doing on Earth, when she clearly belonged with the rest of the gods on Mount Olympia, somewhere in Greece. Naomi had to hold back a giggle as the movement of her fingers brushing past the adorable little button nose made it scrunch up instinctively. As the redhead stirred and brought her hand from under the covers to rub her nose, Naomi froze and watched her intently, ready to shut her eyes and pretend to be asleep any moment the goddess in human form in front of her awoke.

But the goddess just kept on sleeping. Moments later, the hint of a smile broke out on her godly features, suggesting that she was dreaming of something sweet and divine. Naomi's heart skipped a beat as the redhead bit her lip and smiled coyly, and she wished with all her might the dream involved her in some way.

"Fuck, Naomi," the redhead muttered with her eyes still shut, as her hand slipped back underneath the covers to god knows where (Naomi willed herself not to think). The poor blonde's eyes almost popped out from the back of her head as the form in front of her started writhing uncontrollably and moaning loudly in between heavy gasps for breath. Fuck, Emily _was _dreaming about her, and from the looks of it the dream was far from being sweet and divine. Naomi swallowed hard as she watched the redhead bite her lip so hard it bled, making her feel a rush of blood to her lower torso. Jesus Christ, was it ridiculous to be jealous of yourself? Because right now, Naomi wanted nothing more than to kill the self that was in Emily's dream.

"Kiss me," whispered Emily with her eyes closed, and Naomi wasted no time in pondering whether she was addressing her in or outside the dream… Naomi let out an irrepressible moan as her lips were met with a tenderness she'd never experienced before. Impossible. There was no way a pair of human lips could be that soft and tender, and it confirmed what Naomi had all along suspected: that Emily was indeed a goddess sent from the heavens to rescue her from the mediocrity of mortal kissing. Naomi smirked slightly as her hand clung onto the back of Emily's neck (which felt incredibly soft as well), and nibbled repeatedly on those divine lips. Hmm, so that's what heaven tastes like…

As Naomi pulled Emily's soft, naked form closer to press against her own, she decided to ignore a thunderous crash that had just rung out somewhere far off and attend to the more pressing matters at hand instead. Her hands slid down from Emily's collarbone to seek out two mounds she'd been aching to hold in her palms, but somewhere along the frantic groping Naomi felt something was amiss. She furrowed her brows in confusion as she felt the length of the slim body she was holding in her arms. Something was very strange indeed – the body in her hands was entirely flat: no tits to hold onto, nothing…?

Naomi's eyes shot open only to realise in horrors of all horrors, that the body she'd been groping with her hands was the body of one James Fucking Cook. Her eyes almost fell out of their sockets as she saw on closer inspection that Cook had put on make-up and was fluttering his eyelashes in a nauseating manner. Naomi's jaws dropped wide open in shock on instinct, seeking some form of verbal release from this petrifying image that would have well sent Frankenstein cowering in fear, but no sound escaped her mouth. Why, oh, why hadn't someone grabbed a red-hot glowing stoker from the fireplace and blinded Naomi with it when she was a baby? If they had, she wouldn't have had to suffer from these painful visions twenty-three years after she was born. Naomi felt a second round of nausea take over her at the sight of Cook grinning and triumphant in his after-sex glow, lying on his side in all his glory as he chirped coyly at her stupefied face, "Good morning, Naomikins."

Naomi screamed like she'd never screamed before as she sprang up on the bed, the covers that were on top of her thrown haphazardly on the floor. The beads of perspiration that had formed on her forehead trailed down her temples in streams. Jesus fucking Christ, what the fuck was that? Naomi took a moment to study her surroundings before realising that she was in a different room now. As she spun her head to her left, she saw that Cook wasn't there anymore. In fact there was no one else on the bed, save for a bolster pillow lying next to her. Naomi scratched her head violently in confusion. As the fog in her head started to clear slowly, she caught sight of a couple of saliva stains on the pillow. A furious blush erupted on her face as realization hit her. _That was a dream?_ Fuck, the next time she saw Cook she was definitely going to kick him in the nuts for scaring the shitting daylights out of her. And no thanks to the crazy things in her brain responsible for this sweet-dream-turned-scary-as-fuck-nightmare. Seriously, how did her gorgeous Emily turn into mascara-wearing Cook? If Freud had been right about dreams being representations of our repressed erotic desires, she'd have to go and see a doctor about it. Fast. And really, Naomi Campbell? Having erotic dreams about Emily while making out with a pillow? What are you? Fucking teenage boy with raging hormones?

Naomi groaned as she buried her face into the pillow in embarrassment. After a while, she lifted up her head slowly and studied the room she was in. She hadn't even had time to make out where she was exactly when she felt the presence of someone watching her and instinctively turned her head to the door. Sure enough, there was a blonde around her age in a dirty old t-shirt and overalls stained with mud (or the likes of it), standing by the door frame and staring at her with wide, surprised eyes. The first thoughts that came to Naomi's mind was –_ how long has she been standing there?_ and _holy shit, did she witness the pillow-kissing?_ For the love of God, please let it be that she just arrived and saw nothing.

"I'm awfully sorry," the girl began apologetically with a sheepish grin on her face. "Did the noise wake you up? I knocked into one of my clayware in the other room and it fell to the ground."

Naomi stared blankly at the stranger with hair tied into a ponytail and hands that looked like they were dipped into a pot of mud. She had opened her mouth to say something in response but she couldn't think of anything to say. There were too many questions in her head needing answers. Firstly, who was this girl? And why was she talking to her like she was an old friend? Wait a minute, hang on. Maybe she was still dreaming after waking up from the last dream. That's why everything's still so bizarre. You know, like Inception. Dream in a damned dream in another damned dream in yet another…

"I'm Pandora, Emily's flat mate" said the chirpy blonde, cutting in Naomi's thoughts. "You can call me Panda if you like. I'd have given you a hug if it weren't for these dirty hands," she added with a friendly grin. "But don't worry; I'll make it up the next time!"

The string of words that Panda had just said pretty much went through Naomi's brain without being processed, save for the two most important words she heard. Emily's flat mate. Did she just say Emily's flat mate? And by Emily… she meant _her _Emily right?

"Ems had to fly to Greece this morning," said Panda kindly as she saw that Naomi was still in a daze. "She told me to take good care of you and you could stay as long as you want. If you need anything, I'll be in the next room with my pottery," she added with a warm smile.

Naomi swore she felt herself gushing. So, it _was_ her Emily. She had to bite her lip hard to keep from grinning as images of Goddess Emily literally flying back to Greece to join the rest of the communion of gods on Mount Olympia surfaced in her mind.

"You alright there?" ventured Panda again, seeing that Naomi was nervously biting her lip.

"Y-Yeah," Naomi managed out finally, returning a polite smile. "Sorry. I'm a little dazed and lost right now."

"I can see that," replied Panda in amusement.

"I'm Naomi, by the way," offered Naomi.

"I know that," said Panda with a wink. "Heard much about you," she added rather suggestively.

"You're making ceramics?" asked Naomi, her brain suddenly registering what Panda had mentioned before.

"Right! It's a hobby of mine," enthused Panda, the excitement returning to her voice as she talked about her passion. "I know people our age aren't usually into that. But I like it. It's one of the rare activities that can keep me still for hours," added Panda cheekily.

"How long have you been making them?" asked Naomi.

"Six years… and two months, I think," said Panda, her brows furrowing as she did some calculations in her head. "OK, I need to get back to my pottery… Yell for me if you still need anything!" said Panda with a grin as she disappeared hastily round the corner.

Despite the fact that Naomi hadn't really had a grasp on what's actually going on, she couldn't help but smile at the warmth that radiated from this stranger's ultra-friendly and easy-going demeanor while they exchanged pleasantries. Pottery. The only other person whom Naomi knew was into pottery, other than her 68-year-old neighbor Mr Potts (no kidding, that was his real last name), was …

Panda's head popped out suddenly from the side of the door frame.

"Oh, and I just have to ask you this first, because Ems refused to tell me anything last night. Are you by any chance someone famous? I know you must be because I think I know you but I don't think you know me," asked Panda with a curious look on her face.

Naomi chuckled silently. She lost count of the number of times people had asked her the exact same question, but somehow Panda had managed to ask it in an adorably refreshing way.

"I sing and play for the band Ace of Wands," replied Naomi with a quiet smile.

For a moment, Panda stood at the door with a blank expression on her face while Naomi's answer sank in.

"Whizzer!" burst out Panda as her eyes lit up suddenly. "You mean like _the real _Ace of Wands?"

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, we're pretty real," she said cheekily.

"Oh my god," began Panda. "I get it now! Naomi! Naomi Campbell! You're Naomi Campbell! The band's frontman!" She shook her finger wildly as realization hit her.

Naomi nodded in mild amusement as she watched the blonde bouncing on her feet in front of her.

"Jesus, does Emily know that her girlfriend's a celebrity?" asked Panda, still wide-eyed. "I mean, given her knowledge of anything non-geeky, or lack thereof, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know you're famous."

"Oh no, no," Naomi began protesting. "I'm not Emily's girlfriend."

"You aren't?" asked Panda, her face a look of utter disbelief.

"No, we're just friends," said Naomi, her face falling as her mind flashed back to Cook's party the night before. Or maybe not. Naomi thought of the conversation she had with Emily outside Cook's house and the sensation of her heart being ripped apart was tearing through her entire body yet again. Emily Fitch, the one person who had been pervading her thoughts ever since the first time they met, had given her the red card. Emily Fitch, the one person that Naomi wanted more than anything else in the world, had wanted her out of her life. The pain from within almost killed her on the spot as she stood alone in the dark watching Emily slowly slipping away from her…

"Sorry," said Panda, jerking Naomi out of her thoughts. "I thought you were her girlfriend because last night when she carried you back with Freddie she looked so worried about you and all…"

Naomi lit up at the piece of information that was flashing in her mind.

"Was she really?" asked Naomi.

"Yeah, you know. Em's usually so calm and all, but last night her brows were knitted together permanently it looked like she had a unibrow," said Panda, giggling slightly at her own joke. "Plus, she brought you back home. She never brings girls over. Well, not _never. _But not since a long time anyway. But then again, you were in a pretty bad shape, so I suppose she just brought you here to put you up for the night."

Naomi's heart did a little skip at what Panda had said. Emily was worried about her.

"So you're okay now?" Panda asked Naomi, eyeing the latter up and down with concerned eyes.

"I'm fine, just suffering from a little hangover I guess," said Naomi. "Was I really in a bad shape last night?"

"Well, you sure looked like you were off your tits …" replied Panda with a grin on her face. "Ho ho, I meant you looked pretty wasted! And yeah, you couldn't stand on your feet, they had to … Oh Jesus blimey Christ! My pottery! The wheel's still spinning!" added Panda with a wide-eyed look on her face as if she realised for the second time that she had left the wheel spinning and disappeared at once from the door. Naomi smiled as she heard Panda's screams of panic ringing out from other parts of the house and the familiar rhythmic humming coming from the other room.

Naomi knew the sound of a pottery wheel spinning when she heard one. How would she not? She remembered waking up to the unyielding "rattle-tattle, rattle-tattle" on Sunday mornings when she was still staying at home. The first time she was unceremoniously jerked awake by the relentless pounding of the machine she had thought a Deutsche Bahn was driving past her basement below her room. Jumping out of bed, she stormed downstairs still in her bed hair and pajamas, her ferocious blue eyes seeking out the source of the noise that had woken her up and that had revealed a glistening instinct to kill. Gina had looked up from arranging her flowers at a fiery Naomi who had leapt down the stairs, and her face was instantly replaced with a look of panic and guilt as she hastily pointed to the basement with a guilt-ridden mumble, "Thomas." Now, Naomi was a sweet-tempered, patient and understanding daughter, Gina had absolutely no doubt about that. But the latter had come to realise that those brilliant qualities of her charming daughter, however wonderful, tend be evasive during a certain period of the day. To say that Naomi was not a morning person like her dad would be a gross understatement. Morning Naomi simply didn't exist. In her place was this depraved monster who looked like Naomi but behaved nothing like her as she stormed around the house in a mood fouler than a piece of century-old blue cheese, snapping at anyone at the slightest provocation. Gina had ingeniously learnt to steer clear of her daughter during those rare times Naomi had to be awake in the morning, but this day she had totally forgotten about her when Thomas came over wanting to borrow the basement for use and she had unwittingly said yes. Gina bit her tongue in guilt and felt sorry for Thomas as his impending doom in the form of Monster Naomi hurtled down to the basement.

"What the hell is that noise about, Thomas?!" yelled Naomi as she reached the bottom of the stairs and was greeted with the sight of Thomas seated under the lone bulb in the room, shaping a piece of rounded grey clay structure on a rotating plate.

"Morning sunshine," said Thomas with a smile as he turned briefly to Naomi, seemingly unfazed by the blonde's foul mood and vicious glare. "Mr Potts gave me this when I went over to help him fix his pipes last night."

"What did he do that for?" Naomi hollered with an incredulous look, making Thomas chuckle. "Does he have something against me?" asked Naomi, her brows furrowed in extreme annoyance,

"Relax, little tiger," said Thomas with a laugh, looking genuinely pleased with himself as his eyes focused on the piece of clay in front of him that looked like a vase now. "I'm having so much fun with it. You should try this out, Naoms. C'est trop de la balle!" added Thomas excitedly with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Thanks, but no, thanks," replied Naomi sharply as she turned and scooted back up the steps, still irritated that her sleep got disrupted.

It was only on another occasion a week later, (when it was in the afternoon and she had had enough sleep), when Naomi came to really understand the seriousness of her best friend's interest in his new-found hobby. Naomi knew Thomas' steadfast personality had meant that whenever he picked something up, he would go through all the way with it, as he had done with winning first at their school's English chess competition despite having learnt only a couple of years before, and rising to be the star runner on the school athletics team. Thomas was the kind of person who was slow to show an interest in anything, but when he did, you could be sure that the thing he was interested in was here to stay. The passion he had this time for his pottery-making, Naomi dared to say, was definitely unparalleled. Naomi knew that because after that day, Thomas started taking informal lessons from Mr Potts, and in less than three months after he started he had managed to churn out more than a hundred pieces of clayware whose quality had been given his teacher's stamp of approval. Thomas offered a tenth of those to Gina as a thank-you gift in return for the use of the basement, which the latter was more than delighted to accept on behalf of her flowers. Over time, Naomi realised that Thomas wasn't just fooling around with the whole clay business, and she'd learnt to sleep through the noise of "trains" rattling under her room every Sunday morning. She had teased Thomas in jest for his out-dated, old-fashioned hobby whenever she found him spending hours with his ceramics in the basement, telling him that "pottery was ancient art for equally ancient people". Thomas would just laugh and shrug it off in response, saying pottery was a timeless art, and it didn't discriminate by age. Or sex or skin color, for that matter, from the looks of it now. Naomi smiled at the thought of Panda working on her pottery next door. Seemed like she had just inadvertently stumbled upon the soul mate of her childhood best friend.

Naomi glanced around the room from where she was sat on the bed. She still couldn't quite believe it. She was in Emily's room. She had _slept _in Emily's bed, for heaven's sake. She racked her brains hard to recall what had happened last night, but all that surfaced in her mind was a blurry mess followed by a searing pain through her temples. She remembered wallowing pathetically in despair after Emily left her in the cold outside… There seemed to be some guys who clamored about her and tried to chat her up throughout the night, but the faces were hazy impressions now. To tell the truth, she hadn't paid much attention to them anyway, her mind was constantly distracted by the sight of Emily dancing with that blonde girl, which she only stupidly realised last night, was her girlfriend. Why, of course Emily Fitch had a girlfriend. Why in the world wouldn't she? Emily was beautiful, intelligent, gorgeous, sexy, adorable. And she drove a fucking plane. That alone had to up her desirability scale by a hundred, wouldn't it? Why hadn't it occurred to her that there would be tons of women throwing themselves at the object of her crush? Naomi couldn't believe she had been so blinded by love that she had imagined that Emily liked her as well. That was just, well, fucking embarrassing.

She drank herself to oblivion. It was stupid and juvenile and teenage angst all over again, but Naomi couldn't help it. The pain was too much for her to bear. It was revelation, rejection and eviction all on the same night. Not only did she find out the painful truth that Emily hadn't liked her at all and the latter's heart was already taken by someone else, she was asked by Emily herself to disappear from her life, no thanks to all the complications that came with her screwed-up life as a celebrity. For a while, Naomi stood rooted to the pavement outside after Emily left, the burning sensation inside crippling her and thieving her of her ability to move. She stood there like an idiot until Seth came running out of the house to tell her that they had been looking for her to perform another number. Naomi fell straight into his arms and broke down in tears. She'd never felt more stupid in her entire life. She didn't understand it. Emily and her hadn't even had anything going on, they had barely known each other; yet the pain Naomi felt then was as if she was experiencing the loss of someone close to her. It was ridiculous. Seth took her silently in his arms, confused but thoughtful enough not to ask any questions. After a while when Naomi was calm enough, they returned inside the hall and started playing their last number for the night. It was all Naomi could do as she stood there before the microphone to not let the tears flow as she sang, "Stolen". Yes, Emily Fitch had stolen her heart, and now she'd mercilessly and unwittingly ripped it apart.

After their gig, Erik and the rest bought her a round of booze to cheer her up. They all got really drunk, and for a moment Naomi had managed to forget all that drama with Emily. Seth had to leave halfway for a family emergency, and the boys continued playing drinking games, cheering Naomi up with their funny antics. Effy had long slipped off to somewhere in the corner, making out with some bloke in the dark. Naomi and Erik were still roaring in laughter over something Dan had said when Erik spotted a pair of fit-looking babes in the crowd and nudged Dan at once in the arm. Naomi caught them exchanging perving looks and didn't want them to forgo having fun just to keep her company, and had reassured them she was fine, egging them to go get some. The twins grinned at each other and took off without looking back.

With the distractive powers of the twins gone, it didn't take long before Naomi's attention found its way back to Emily again. The sight of Emily slow dancing with the girl on the dance floor was too much for Naomi to bear, and for a moment she contemplated leaving the party to go home. That was when two blokes came up to her from nowhere and offered to keep her company. Usually, Naomi would have been wary and turned them down in an instant, but not this time. Tonight, she desperately needed some form of diversion to keep that pain away. As she took the glass of vodka from the man's hand, she downed it in a single swig.

Soon after, everything became a blurry mash. The vodka had been really good. After a few more shots, things around her started having this dream-like effect about them. Naomi swore she hadn't laughed so hard in a long time, and for the first time that night, Emily was swiped clean from her mind. She found herself in this fairytale land where everything was so tiny and amusing. There were all these little dwarves who were dancing around her feet as she climbed up the steps to the top of her castle, and the soldiers who brought her to rest on her princess' bed had helped her undress. She remembered watching a rebel knight barge into her room and fight with the soldiers. The knight was eventually subdued of course. He then tried to escape and Naomi stopped him, warning him not to do so, for she was definitely taking him prisoner that night for sure. And then, … she couldn't remember what happened after. Oh, what a load of crap for a dream.

How in the world did she end up at Emily's apartment though? Naomi had no idea. Panda said she was in a bad shape when Emily and Freddie brought her back the night before. She probably puked all over the place from all the alcohol poisoning she put herself to. Maybe Cook saw it and told Emily to take care of her on his behalf. Then again, Cook was probably getting some at the time she was throwing up – he was likely the last person at the party to be worried about her. And that leaves only the possibility of Emily spotting her in her puking frenzy and coming over to check on her. Ooh, that must not have been a pretty sight. Still, Naomi couldn't help smiling at the thought that Emily was still concerned about her enough to disregard what she had said before and bring her back home.

Naomi shifted her gaze to the walls around her. Someone once told her, you could tell a lot about a person from her personal bedroom. For a start, there were only a few pieces of furniture in Emily's room. Minimalistic, just like the impression Emily had given Naomi the first time they met – simple, unpretentious and no-nonsense. There was a study table next to the bed, with a laptop perched on top and a few books on aviation placed tidily next to it. On the other side of the bed there was a wardrobe with a poster of Einstein in it sticking his tongue out cheekily. In one corner of the room a shelf stood tall, neatly packed with books from top to bottom. Right next to it several exquisite model airplanes were hanging from the ceiling. Naomi stood up to take a closer look, and that was when she noticed the photographs that were spanning the wall for the first time. Pasted above the snapshots was a poster with a quote Naomi recognised came from Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Naomi studied each of the photographs intently. Upon closer look she realised that they were shots taken at various places across the world. The first one showed an endless expanse of blue and a hint of setting sun on the horizon. The caption on the photograph read, "Marseille, France: As I watched the sunset on the rocks I contemplated bathing in the Mediterranean. It was so tempting, to jump in and feel whole with the universe; to feel reborn in the arms of nature. But alas, fear of dying alone in a foreign land from hypothermia held me back. As always, fear is the thing that stops me from letting go completely. One day, I'll be back though."

Naomi's eyes roamed to the next picture, an underwater shot of Emily looking adorable in diving goggles and a snorkeling mask and posing in front of a big shark of some sort swimming past behind her. That caption read, "Donsol, Philippines: Happiest day of my life. I fucking swam next to three whale sharks - one right of me, one left of me, and one under me! It was fucking brilliant." A smile that matched the smiley face hand-drawn at the end of that caption broke out on Naomi's face.

The next shot showed Emily and a fit-looking brunette posing on what looked like a public bus with a young, good-looking lad with shades behind the steering wheel. "Verona, Italy: Fittest bus driver in the history of mankind with the biggest heart ever, Nero, saved our non-Italian sputtering asses by dropping us off at our hotels after we stupidly missed our stop. Gotta get me one of those Italian babes next time, man."

As she examined each of the next photos, Naomi was intrigued. A part of her felt intrusive to be in Emily's room, going through facts of the latter that she never had known before. After all, the redhead had made it pretty clear the night before that she wanted out of her life. (Naomi even suspected work was just an excuse to take flight before she had woken). She almost felt like a stalker then, snooping around Emily's room hungrily taking in every bit of information she could absorb about her. But the truth was, Naomi couldn't help herself. It's stupid, it's crazy, but somehow it had made her heart flutter learning these little things about Emily. She would learn everything about her, if she could. Naomi was utterly fascinated as her eyes continued to scrutinize the photographs on the wall. Singapore. Japan. India. Mexico. Brazil. New Zealand. Nepal. Cambodia. Seemed like Emily had already been to a truckload of countries and had an array of experiences in those lands. Sure, Naomi had travelled to some of these places herself on their band's world tour, but she found herself wondering then, how it would be like to be exploring these lands, with her hand tucked safely in Emily's. She felt a rush of heat to her face as she recalled the delicate feeling of the redhead's fingers laced between hers on that fateful night in Bangkok. It was hopeless. She was hopeless. Hopelessly in love.

Naomi arched her brows in surprise as Cook's trademark toothy grin in the photograph on the far end caught her eye. He had his arms around Emily, who, despite the fact that her blazing red hair was flying messily about in the wind, was smiling like the sun. Naomi couldn't repress the smile that broke out on her face. Next to Emily in the photo stood Freddie and JJ, who were making funny faces and fooling around. The four of them were dressed smartly in their pilot cadet uniform, leaning against the side of a small jet plane that was behind them. The caption read, "Perth, Australia: Last day at Jandakot. All of us graduated, including Cook! Now we're all full-fledged pilots, with licenses to kill. You've been warned, people. Fly at your own risk."

The smile on Naomi's face faded slightly. Cook had rung her up the week before to invite her band to play for his party, after learning she was back in Bristol, and she had agreed instantly. The duo was extremely close towards the end of their high school years, much to the annoyance of Thomas, who hated Cook and his stupid gang for their obnoxious and bullying ways. But after graduation, Naomi became busy with the band, while Cook worked several odd jobs for a few years before applying to become a pilot at the local airline. The two hadn't been in contact for quite a while before Cook's party. Naomi had known for a long time that Cook was a pilot working in the same company as Emily, but she had somehow failed to connect the dots together before attending the party. Seeing Emily at Cook's house had knocked the wind completely out of her head.

Naomi glanced at the bed behind her. The blazer she had worn the night before was folded neatly in a pile at a corner of the bed with her mobile placed on top of it. She looked down at herself and realised for the first time she was wearing an over-sized T-shirt that said, "When life gives you lemons, reach for the tequila." This _had_ to belong to Cook. Naomi reached out and checked her phone. A missed call from Effy. Five missed calls from Seth. She slapped her forehead in horror as she remembered that they were supposed to be filming for an MV today. Shit, it had totally slipped her mind.

"Eff," said Naomi urgently as the call connected and someone on the other end picked up.

"Naomi," said the caller with a chilled tone. "Had a fruitful night last night?" Naomi could hear the unmistakable smirk in her voice.

"Jesus, Eff," groaned Naomi. "_Not _now. Where's everyone?"

"Seth's alone at the recording studio, hopping mad. Apparently Dan & Erik pulled a no-show too," replied Effy. "Got laid last night."

"And you?" asked Naomi.

"I got laid as well. Thanks for asking," replied Effy.

"For Christ's sake, Eff, I don't want to know if you got laid," said Naomi with a roll of her eyes, "I meant to ask where you are now."

"Keith's."

"Isn't it a little too early for booze?" asked Naomi in amazement.

"I'm people-watching," said Effy curtly. "Where are you exactly?"

Naomi raised an eyebrow at Effy's question as it hit her that she didn't know where she was. She bolted to the next room where she found Panda in the middle of making an exquisite-looking vase.

"32, Hill Street," said Panda chirpily.

"32, Hill Street," repeated Naomi over the phone.

There was a slight chuckle on the other end. "I'm just round the corner," said Effy. "I'll wait downstairs while you say goodbye to your superlovah," she added. Naomi was about to protest when she heard a click on the phone.

* * *

Naomi saw Effy leaning against the wall outside the apartment building the moment she stepped out of the elevator.

"Hey," said Naomi with a smile as she tapped Effy from behind. Effy turned and merely looked her up and down in a slight surprise.

"You didn't get any last night," said Effy in a questioning tone.

"How the hell, Eff..?" Naomi blurted uncontrollably. She'd always known that Effy had psychic powers of some kind, but seeing those supernatural faculties of hers at work still scared her from time to time.

"It shows," said Effy, giving a shrug.

Naomi was about to come up with a retort when her eyes caught sight of a figure that had just stepped out of a cab on the roadside. Naomi fought an instinct to jump behind Effy as the petite figure in a designer top and a tight-fitting skirt looked up and locked eyes with her. To her surprise, those hazel brown eyes didn't seem to recognize her.

"What's the matter?" asked Effy as she eyed Naomi and followed her gaze to the lady that was walking in their direction towards the apartment building. This woman was elegantly dressed like those yuppies working on the other end of the city, but instead of a jaded air that one always saw hung over those rich, young but overworked professionals, Naomi detected a distinctive aura about the lady that could be sensed a mile away. The don't-you-dare-fuck-with-me aura.

A blazing ball of realization the size of an asteroid came hurling through the atmosphere and hit Naomi on the head. Why, of course she wouldn't recognise Naomi. This was obviously not Emily, it was Emily's twin, Katie. But fuck her if they hadn't looked more alike. Didn't Emily mention before that they _weren't_ identical twins?

"I'm going up now," said the woman in a voice of authority, talking to the phone she held against her face with her right hand, the purposeful clicking of her heels on the pavement loud enough to be heard a few streets down.

"What the fuck do you mean, you're flying today?" yelled the woman in a sudden fit of anger, as she stopped short in her tracks, startling Naomi and even Effy. "Emily Fitch, are you fucking telling me that after getting into a fight last night and getting your face fucking disfigured, you're fucking hell going to work in that state?"

Naomi felt her throat went dry. Emily got into a fight last night…? What…? Why? How…?

"Naoms," said Effy as she looked at the flashing number on her mobile. "Seth's calling again. Let's go, they're waiting," she added, dragging a dazed Naomi down to the cab that Katie had just alighted from.

"What the hell, I'm going down to the airport to drag you back," Naomi could hear Katie's commanding voice from behind her. All the questions were popping up relentlessly in her head. Why did Emily get in a fight? Was she alright now?

"Does it look like it would stop me if they'd tried to throw me out? Look, Ems, I threw a client off my fucking back to visit your pathetic ass, squeezing a non-existent break I have from work to bring you to the hospital, and you're telling me you're fucking flying to Greece today. You're asking for another bruise to add to the pretty ones on your face, aren't you? I don't care, I'm going to the airport now," Katie said as she turned about on her heels and made her way to the cab just as Effy was about to open the door and get in.

"You're in the way, lady. Move it," said Katie as she shoved Effy out of the way to tug at the door handle, but Effy had her hands against the door.

"I believe we were here first," said Effy quietly.

"Nuh-uh. I just got out of the cab thirty seconds ago. I was here first," said Katie as she looked straight in Effy's eyes, challenging her. "Now, if you could remove your slimy hands off the door so that I can get on my cab."

Naomi tugged at Effy's shirt urgently, her brows knitting together in a plead for Effy not to get into an argument with Katie. Effy rolled her eyes at Naomi and removed her hand from the window. Katie smirked seeing that she had won, and gleefully opened the door to get in.

"Bitch," muttered Effy to herself as she turned away.

"I beg your pardon?" contested Katie as she turned back and glared at Effy.

"I said you're a bitch," said Effy calmly, her eyes boring straight into Katie's, undaunted. Naomi watched uneasily as the duo glared at each other in a menacing silence, both not wanting to back down. She was about to say something to ease the tension when there was a sudden change in Katie's expression as she arched her eyebrow and squinted at Effy, before turning to Naomi and looking her up and down.

"Wait a minute, I know you two," she began with an evil smirk on her face. "You two are the bitches from that stupid band that tries to pass a truckload of noise as music. Magic wands, or something," she added sarcastically.

"Ace of Wands," cut in Naomi eagerly, naively hoping that the fact that Katie "knew" them would help them resolve this argument in some way.

"Whatever," said Katie with a roll of her eyes. "Just another product of pop culture to earn some quick bucks of those naïve teenagers who would worship trash."

"Don't act like you know shit about us," said Effy in a dangerously calm voice, her blue eyes piercing into Katie's. Naomi looked at Effy in surprise. She had never heard the latter spring up to the band's defence in the past, even when the media was on a roll dishing out insults in interviews and news at one point in time, Effy'd always smirked and let it pass like it didn't bother her. Effy's reaction this time was something new.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I do work with the so-called "stars" in my field, so I _do_ know shit about you people. You bastards act like you're goddamn immortals who could step on everyone else. But really, you people are worse than trash," added Katie, apparently unfazed by the glare Effy was giving.

Naomi watched in panic as Effy's fingers rolled into a ball of fist and her body started shivering like she was trying to hold an orb of energy in. For the first time, Katie's eyes revealed a little hint of discomfort as she noticed Effy's body language, and had, rather intelligently, opened the door hurriedly and climbed into the cab before she got punched in the eye. As Katie's cab drove away, Effy squatted down and took in deep, heavy breaths.

"You alright?" asked Naomi in a concerned voice, as she ran her arms up and down Effy's arms soothingly.

"I'm fine," said Effy with a sideway glance at Naomi, looking far from anything she'd said. "Let's find another cab and get out of here."

* * *

Effy sat on the rocks and stared quietly at the ebb and flow of the tide, hypnotized by the rhythmic movement of the waves lapping on the shore. The sun was slowly setting on the horizon, and the sky was amazing mix of red, orange and blue. She took a long drag from the fag in her hand that was about to go out and saw that a figure had silently climbed up the sides to join her on her boulder. Effy turned to her side and held out the fag in a gesture to offer, but the other person just smiled and shook her head. The duo sat in silence as they let the lapping sounds of the waves wash over their tired souls and soothe them from within.

"Would you live by the sea if you could?" asked Effy out of the blue.

"You mean for the rest of your life?" asked Naomi, her eyes kept on the waters ahead.

"For the rest of your life," repeated Effy.

"Maybe. I don't know, it's kind of awesome, to wake up to these sounds every morning," said Naomi with a contented smile. "And the sight of your loved one next to you. It's the best feeling in the world, isn't it?"

Effy only chuckled.

"How about you Eff? Would you live by the sea for the rest of your life?" Naomi nudged Effy in the arm and asked.

"I think I could," began Effy. "I can see it. A little cottage house with two dogs, tons of tequila stocked up, and maybe a lover with a guitar. Some days I'll rent a rowboat and drift out into the middle of the ocean. Somehow it feels like the only place in the world that can hold me, that doesn't make me feel suffocated. It's only when I'm wrapped in the infinity of the ocean when I feel free," said Effy, her face revealing a dreamy smile as her hair flew freely in the sea breeze. Naomi looked at Effy with a gentle smile and gave her hand a little squeeze.

"I do pity your lover for your innate tendency to drift off alone into the ocean," teased Naomi.

"Right. Your lover would be one lucky bastard, what with you surgically attaching your limbs onto them so that you two can be together all day and night," said Effy, smirking to herself. Naomi blushed furiously.

"I won't do that to her," said Naomi hastily.

"Her?" Effy raised her eyebrow in a sudden display of interest. "Who's her?"

"No one," Naomi made a pathetic attempt to lie.

"It's the redhead from the party last night, isn't it?" said Effy knowingly as she took another drag. There was a moment of silence as Effy sensed the blonde trying to come up with something to deny but failed.

"Was it very obvious?" asked Naomi, her voice unable to hide the sadness behind.

"It was okay. I have a hunch for such things," replied Effy.

"You have a hunch for a lot of things, Eff," said Naomi.

"Are you in love with her?" asked Effy, her eyes still on a fishing boat that was bobbing up and down in the distance.

"Eff!" protested Naomi.

"Come on, Naoms," said Effy with a roll of her eyes. "Your heart obviously wasn't there when we were filming just now. It was supposed to be a sweet, mushy scene of a couple in love having fun at the beach, but you acted as if your lover had died in a car crash or something. She has to mean something to have such an effect on you."

"Well, I…" Naomi pouted, not knowing what to say. "You were distracted as well! I think that was the first time I've ever heard you missed playing a part," Naomi attempted a feeble comeback.

"I admit I was," said Effy truthfully.

"Was it what Katie said just now?" Naomi hazarded a guess.

"Katie?" asked Effy.

"She's Emily's twin sister," replied Naomi.

"Oh," said Effy, as realization dawned on her abruptly. "Well, for your own sake, I hope Emily's nothing like her then," she scoffed.

"No, they're very different," said Naomi quickly. "Emily's really quiet, sweet and funny," she added, a smile breaking out on her face.

"What's wrong then?" asked Effy.

"She's got a girlfriend," said Naomi, her smile fading at once. "She said she wanted me to stay away so that her girlfriend won't get the wrong idea."

"I wonder if she could stay away herself, though," said Effy thoughtfully.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Naomi in a surprised tone.

"Naoms, she was staring at you the entire night," said Effy matter-of-factly.

"What?" Naomi's eyes widened in astonishment at Effy's words.

"I'm telling you. The whole time she was looking your way with those… eyes. She's definitely, hopelessly in love with you. I know a lovelorn look when I see one," said Effy with a slight smirk as she took another drag.

"You what? … No… I… Then why is she pushing me away?" asked Naomi in desperation.

"How would I know, babe? I'm not an oracle. You gotta ask her yourself," said Effy, throwing the remains of the fag onto the sand.

Naomi sat on the rocks with her fingers twirling the edge of her top restlessly as Effy watched her with an amused look.

"Jesus, Naomi Campbell. Meet up with her face-to-face and thrash things out," said Effy as she stared at her. Naomi only looked back at her uncertainly as she bit her cheek, wondering how in the world that was going to happen.

"Naoms! Naoms!" the sounds of someone shouting rang out from behind them, making Effy and Naomi spin around on the rocks instantly. Erik ran up to them and panted breathlessly as he reached the edge of the rocks.

Erik held Naomi's puzzled gaze as he caught his breath finally. "It's your dad, Naomi."

"He's in hospital."

* * *

Naomi pushed through the hospital ward door with clammy hands and was immediately greeted with the sight of medical staff scurrying all over the place, attending to various emergencies with grave faces as a couple of coughs echoed from one of the rooms. The smell of antiseptics wafting through the air was enough to kill a germ that was the size of an elephant. Gina was spotted standing outside one of the doors next to Thomas, her arms crossed in front of her chest. When she looked up at Naomi, her eyes were slightly red and teary.

"Naomi," said Gina, her hands holding on to her daughter's arms for comfort.

"Mom," said Naomi, drawing Gina into an embrace.

"He's inside, with them," said Thomas quietly as he gestured to the door next to them. Naomi could feel a surge of strength flowing through her as Thomas' strong hands clasped her encouragingly on the shoulders. She hesitated at the door for a moment, before pushing her way in.

Since the day her dad had decided to walk out of her life, Naomi had envisaged meeting with him again in many ways. She'd imagined bumping into him at the checkout counter at the local supermarket with his new family, wearing posh clothes and living the high life. He would feebly attempt to apologise for walking out on her, and she would yell back at him and mash the dairy products on the floor, kicking up a big fuss and making sure that everyone knew about his betrayal, as he scurried away in shame with his family in tow.

She had imagined him meeting him a decade later when he was down and out, abandoned by his new wife and kids. He would come begging for her forgiveness at one of her sold-out concerts. There would be tears in his eyes as he went on his knees, as he pleaded with her to take him in again, but there would be no relenting on her part as she stared back at him with cold, dark eyes. Never would she believe his lies again.

But most days she would imagine coming home one day to realise that he was already seated on his favorite spot on the sofa with his arms wide open, smiling as she ran into his arms like when she was younger. She would ask him why he had left without a word. He would chuckle like he always did and ruffle her hair as he told her it was all but a silly dream; he had never left in the first place.

There had been a thousand and one scenarios in which Naomi had imagined meeting her father again, but not one of them was what she saw in front of her now.

He lay motionlessly on the hospital bed, the only movement evident on his body was the recurring heaving of his chest as he took labored breaths from the oxygen mask secured around his mouth. A cluster of complex-looking machines hovered above him, their unfriendly wires connected to his body to monitor any trace of life that was left in him. The icy and deathlike silence in the room was broken only by the intermittent beeping of the equipment, the one thing that seemed to remind them that time was still slipping away, and that with every second that departed, the spirit of the man was quietly following behind.

The figures beside his bed looked up as Naomi entered the room. The woman was in her early forties, with a hint of grey in her brown hair and looking extremely tired, but still beautiful. The boy beside her looked to be about eleven, and he had cowered a little against his mother when he saw Naomi. The lady smiled gratefully at Naomi, who returned a acknowledging nod with a little smile. She used to hate the other woman for destroying her happy family when she was younger, and she was all the more repulsed by the idea of the new son replacing her in her dad's heart. But as she grew older, Naomi came to learn things weren't all that simple. It always took two hands to clap. If anyone was to be blamed, it should all fall on her dad, for giving in to temptation so easily. This woman did nothing wrong, she only fell in love with the wrong man. It was all the more ridiculous to blame her son for her dad's betrayal.

Naomi held a hand to her mouth as she gazed at the haunted shell of a man lying on the bed. He was physically reduced to skin and bones. His once-beautiful dark hair for the most part had been thieved by the demons of chemotherapy, his body visibly withered from the onslaught of disease and aggressive medication. Naomi fought to hold a tear back. She couldn't believe that it was her dad. From her memory of him, he had been rather tall, with big, strong arms, and a smile full of rigor. This man lying here… He was merely a ghost of her dad's former self.

"Eddie," whispered the lady gently into the man's ear. "Naomi's here."

The man slowly peeled open his eyes with effort as he focused his eyes on the girl standing on the far end of his bed, staring down at him. The lady turned to his son, held him by the hand and excused themselves.

For a while, they both just looked at each other in silence. Naomi bit her lip as she looked him straight in the eye. She had so many questions to ask him, so many things to say to him, so many explanations that she demanded to hear from him. Suddenly, she was angry; she was angry that he was just going to get away like that, after all those years he had made her and Gina suffer. She was angry that she couldn't yell at him, throw dairy products on the floor while she screamed at their family, angry that she couldn't turn him away with cold, hard eyes so that he could have a taste of what she had suffered the day he decided to walk out on them both. She was angry, and it showed in her fiery blue eyes as she stared back at him in silence.

It was only a few minutes later when the man tried to raise his hand with much difficulty, trembling slightly as he finally peeled off the oxygen mask from his face. His eyes filled as he formed the words in between labored breaths.

"I'm sorry, Naomi."

Naomi pursed her lips hard as she continued to look him impassively in the eye, the back of her hand held against her mouth as she shook her head slowly from side to side.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

And then the tears started to fall.


End file.
